I am sorry. I have no excuse for not updating. Beyond that, DO NOT PANIC! Pairings have yet to be decided. Just because characters are… um, well, you'll see what I mean. But, seriously, all pairings will have a fair share of screen time.
After the initial realization, my guild was quite even-keeled about everything, because, well, they were Fairy Tail. (The initial realization being something along the lines of, "WHAAAAT?! LUCY-ZEREF-YOU-BUT I THOUGHT-ARE YOU HURT- KICK HIS-I DON'T- WHEN'D YOU-DID YOU-WHEN HE-EVERYONE, SHUT UP! Talk after we get back to the hotel, got it, brats? That includes, you, Mr. Zeref.") The Council had announced a sudden and unforeseen catastrophe, the Games over, Fairy Tail the winner, and pretty much gone into hiding. Our guild immediately decided to use the prize money, instead of logically paying the heap of debts, to fund the entire guild's trip to Driftwood Inn in the famous Rubies of Fiore. It was, however, utterly and completely worth it, seeing the brilliantly red cliffs at sunset as we arrived, with the surf crashing against it in all its epic and wonderful cheesiness. Unfortunately, Zeref missed the view; in fact, he disappeared for much of the boat ride.
Once we checked in, Zeref popped in, noting, "I ought to teach you teleportation, Lucy." Cue much jaw dropping and envy, because teleportation was just that awesome. Pouring after us, were all the other guilds who were either A) friends: Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Crime Sorciere (unmasked); B) rivals: Sabertooth; and C) random jealous guilds. Obviously Natsu, Gajeel, Sting, and Rogue were a guaranteed. Laxus, to put it in Master's words, had "irresponsibily run off on some mission that was most certainly not approved by me and dumped me with this shitty baby sitting job". Mavis proceeded to blow bubbles at him, having found the magic that is bubble solution.
"Lucy, would you care to dance?" A hand was extended into my vision. I looked up and gulped seeing Sting , all dressed up, tux, tie, and all. Oh God. Natsu wouldn't… oh.
He hadn't gone for the suave and formal. No. For him, "formal" was a simple, black, skintight shirt and loose pants. He met my eyes, smiled broadly, waving, and I dragged my eyes back over to Sting with his cocky smirk and too-sharp eyes that followed my every move—it really didn't help my already obvious blush.
On the one hand, if I accepted, I'd feel like I was betraying my guild and supporting Sabertooth. On the other, if I declined, that might give the impression that I was showing favoritism towards my own guild, and that I really might like Natsu or Gajeel better (which I didn't, whatever Mira might say (don't listen to what she says; it's all lies! Lies!) ). I sighed mentally. Couldn't they just send flowers or chocolates or love letters? For one, it'd be a lot less public. Then again, if I was honest with myself… I had four (excluding Laxus, gone AWOL) hot guys trying their best to seduce me (for once), which was also guaranteed to be hilarious as they screwed up and sabotaged each other's plans, and I was going to take advantage of it, even if it was ridiculous, testosterone-fueled competition set up by my father in which I was the prize. Simply put, I took his hand.
Sting pulled me closer to him than I would have liked, with one arm slung possessively over my shoulder. Stubbornly, I pushed him away so he could escort me properly as a gentleman, and not a playboy. Still, he continued to drift disconcertingly close.
As the heir to the Heartfilia Estate, blood daughter or not, it had been required, of course, that I learn many social and academic arts and abilities, including dancing that befitted the people of my station, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Sting was no amateur in the art of ballroom dancing. In fact, it was easy to attribute my breathlessness towards his ability.
Before long, he spoke up. "So tell me about yourself, Lucy."
"Surely you would know that it is polite to tell of oneself first," I replied, curious to learn more about a rather enigmatic character, and coolly polite despite his flattering.
"Ah, but I would hate to seem self-absorbed."
"In that case, I ask you to speak of yourself."
"And there we have a dilemma, Lucy. For if you might recall, I asked first."
"…I could blackmail you. By choosing Natsu."
"It is obvious, to anyone who has ever talked to you, that you would never make such a serious choice over such a petty question. Besides, you're very easy to read. Lucy, you find me attractive. You find all of us attractive. You are slow and methodical, and you don't want to make a bad choice. I have a slight advantage over the others because I have made the first move, and you love dancing."
Speechless, the song ended before I could reply and Sting let go.
"Thank you for the dance, Lucy." He bowed once, and was gone. Still flattered and confused, I didn't have much time to recover as Natsu bounced over.
"Hey Lucy!"
"Hi, Natsu. You're looking good."
"Yup. Just for you!"
I had to admit, I was surprised he could pull out a romantic side, and said so, "But we're only friends."
"Best friends!" he corrected.
"Okay, best friends."
"For forever?"
"Yes, Natsu."
"Promise me?"
"Yes, Natsu."
"Be my girlfriend?"
"Yes, Na—wait, WHAT?!"
"YEESSSSS!" Natsu then proceeded to tackle me, flying across the room, landing on Erza's cake, splattering it all over her and Jellal. Oh, snap. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Erza was going to kill us for this. She certainly looked ready to, until Jellal, luckily, chuckled and reached over to scoop off a strawberry and clump of whipped cream off to the side off her mouth. Then he looked at his fingers, smirking evilly.
"FOOD FIGHT!" The innocent-looking cake became a dangerous source of whizzing projectiles, and we were right in the middle. Correction: I was right in the middle of it. Natsu had left that—now that I thought about it—slightly uncomfortable position on top of me to join in the melee.
"Need a hand?" Levy… I probably shouldn't get too close to Gajeel. Well, it looked like nobody else was willing, so I reluctantly placed my hand in his. He pulled a little too suddenly and strongly, and I shot up, stumbled, my hands instinctively grabbing on something. That "something" was his chest.
"Whoa, no need to throw yourself at me Bunny-girl!"
"I did not throw myself at you! I would never be so uncomposed for some-some…" I spluttered angrily.
"Speechless, too? You just keep stroking my ego, Bunny."
"Shut UP! Go away," I added irritably.
"Ouch, Bunny. Well, if you say so."
Too late, I realized that Gajeel had set up a barrier, which vanished with him. Immediately bombarded by food, I ducked for cover, only to be swamped by an insane, food-throwing, mob of a guild. As chaos ensued, I remembered the feel of three other bodies.
!asdfghjklasdfghjkl!
Early the next morning, the tingles of strong magic returning woke me up. I snuck out from the room I officially shared with Erza, even though she'd switched with Ultear and Meredy, dressed somewhat less provocatively than usual, if only because the beach Driftwood Inn was situated on was smothered in fog.
The fog swirled, shifting as I walked through it. In the distance came the steady crash of waves, deadened by the dense blanket of condensation. A figure formed, slowly gaining shape, until I realized it was Zeref. I stopped next to him, waiting till he had closed his eyes and sighed exhaustedly. When he opened his eyes to greet me, all signs of tiredness were gone. "Good morning, Lucy."
"Morning," I replied. What do you say to your illegitimate immortal father, the most powerful mage in the world, once evil?
"Lucy? Oh, there you are." A large gust of wind exposed Wendy, trotting up to us with a hot plate of breakfast and a mug of hot chocolate. "I brought breakfast—Oh, I'm so sorry, Zeref-sama, I didn't know you were here, too. I'll run back and get another plate right away." She darted back, then realized she hadn't given my breakfast to me yet, skidded to a stop, paused to steady the mug, and was on her way back when Zeref spoke up.
"No, that's all right." He began walking towards the inn. "I have some suggestions for my daughter's suitors. For example," he said, coughing meaningfully as we walked past a sand dune, "I would have escorted her to the beach, or delivered her breakfast, if I were them."
Behind the dune, an immediate scurrying followed, consisting of, "No, I want to be the first one!", "Well, that's really smart, where are you going get the food, huh?", "Lucy's obviously going to fall for me anyway,", "Shut up, they'll hear!", and then a heavy grunt and Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting rolled over each other in tangle of flailing limbs to finally dog pile behind us. Natsu magically (not the Eternano kind, the where-did-all-those-cookies-right-in-front-of-me-go kind) heaved himself out from the bottom of the pile and leaped over, smiling and sparkling happily, desperately clinging onto my arm.
"Lucy!" he exclaimed. "Wedidfollowyoubutwedidn'twannabotheryousoStingsaidto eavesdropbutZerefnoticedusan dtheywouldn'tletmegofirstandGajeelwasrea llymeanandapushysothat'swhyweallfell!"
"…what?"
"Natsu, you little demon, you wanted to eavesdrop. And whadya mean Gajeel was pushy? You pulled us all down with you!" Sting snapped, one eyebrow ticking dangerously. "The (h-e-double toothpicks) were you THINKING, baka!"
"Um," suggested Wendy quietly in the background, "I-I really don't think we should fight."
"Blame me, would you flamebrain?" growled Gajeel.
Great. Another day, another fight. It didn't look like Zeref was going to interfere any time soon either. "You guys are so annoying," I mumbled. Though, obviously, practically a shout for Dragon Slayer ears.
"See? She doesn't like you guys at all! You should go away," scolded Natsu as he shooed them away with one dismissive hand.
"And what are you, a girl?" asked Sting icily.
"That… is completely irrelevant! Come, my love, wonderful things await!" Then all I could do was press my face into his neck as he swept me up and carried me to the inn. Actually, "carried" isn't the best term, since it implies a somewhat slow, gently motion, and he got me there in two seconds flat. "Erza, Mira, Juvia, incoming!" he bellowed. He burst into Mira's room, dumped me on the bed, and fled, the door slamming shut behind him.
I was not given time to speak as I was deposited in a satin-and-lace concoction, frilled and plumped and all-around beautified, and swept downstairs to the anteroom where I barely had time to acknowledge the bustling whirlwind of activity before I was alone again. Then slowly, the doors opened.
I walked over to Natsu, wondering why everyone was staring at me.
"What's happening?" I hissed at him.
"We're getting married, of course!"
It's short (2k words), it's late (for over a month, as FabFairyFan keeps reminding me), it's a cliffie (again). Life goes on. Should I count pairing votes from guests?
Thank you, Reviewers:
Chapter 5: Izzy26, GoldenRoseTanya, Vivid x Dreams, Betty
Chapter 6: Guest, FuzzyPeachz12, GoldenRoseTanya, Guest, DemonPrincessKleo, I Am Awesome D, FabFairyFan, Guest