WEIRDO BLABBS: I suck at endings. I know, don't remind me. TT^TT


-CHAPTER EIGHT-
The unexpected turn of events have rendered me quite speechless.

Well, I didn't see this one coming, Gray thought as he exhaled and slunk back on his seat in the airplane. He had always thought love was going to be a distraction. After all, he plans to get into medical school at age 25, graduate at 28 or 29, and set up his own pediatric clinic at age 30. Marriage, in his mind, would come in his late 30s or early 40s.

He hadn't planned this… not at all. Infatuation wasn't on his priorities list; infatuation with a dying elite girl was even more farfetched. But I guess that's what happens when you meddle in stuff that ought not to be meddled in, he thought.

Lucy snored and nuzzled her head at the crook of Gray's neck. Exactly how she was able to do that with the distance between them and the seat belt buckled around her waist was almost supernatural. So much so that Gray could not move; and the way that she drooled on his shoulder paralyzed him.

Gray tried to have Lucy seated uprightly, but she kept leaning and leaning on him. If he hadn't known better, he would think she was awake and trying to play tricks on him. So in the end, he gave up and let her be.

So, genius, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes, too, how do you get out of this?

And he fell asleep to the smell of lavender, praying to whatever higher power was at work not to let the airplane land.


To: Heartfilia, L.
Subj: Hey
07:13AM
Hey, how's it going?

From: Heartfilia, L.
Subj: Ok
07:15AM
Good. It's a surprise that you texted me first. ^ _ ^

To: Heartfilia, L.
Subj: Just because
07:15AM
Just because... Ddnt think you would reply so soon. I just got off duty.

From: Heartfilia, L.
Subj: Number 89
07:17AM
I'm off to do item number 89 on my list. Wanna come?

Gray clicked his tongue and sighed. He would have wanted to come but he promised the kids at the orphanage he would visit. Plus, he had souvenirs he had bought from their bungee jumping trip that he wanted to give them.

Begrudgingly, he typed: 'Sorry. Can't. Have to go somewhere else. Good luck, tho...'

Gray sighed as he walked out of the hospital gate with his travel bag on his shoulder. It had been a week since their trip and he hasn't seen Lucy since. On any other occasion or with any other person, he honestly wouldn't mind but the young twenty-three-year-old for the first time in his life found himself pining. It wasn't like that feeling he had about the new toy donated at the orphanage; this time he was pining for a person. A real-life, breathing, 3D person.

It was not as amusing as it sounded.

The rubble under his feet crackled as he strolled melancholically about. He arrived at his apartment with thoughts of going to the orphanage first and then catching up with Lucy. But if number 89, whatever that is, finishes early then wouldn't that be awkward? Maybe he should just ditch the orphanage all together? No, that would certainly be the wisest thing to do. The children would be absolutely heartbroken. But the nuns would understand, right? But for them to understand, he would have to tell them about Lucy and the new... feelings he had stumbled upon. That would be even more awkward.

A little past nine in the morning, Gray finally decided to leave for the orphanage. Blood is thicker than water. Orphanage over Lucy. He shivered at his own thoughts; he must be pretty infatuated if his logic was going on like that. With great difficulty, he put Lucy and everything that had something to do with her at the back of his mind.

Gray arrived at the orphanage on a gloomy note. The old rusty gate creaked open and he grimaced at the condition of the peeling paint and the missing bars all over. He mentally noted to give some money to have them fixed.

He stepped inside and was surprised at the solemnity of the place: there were no children playing in the small playground to the left and the huge house to his right was also quiet with no apparent movement from the inside. Strange, he thought. Usually when the gate opens, kids would run after each other to greet the visitor; and when it was Gray, they would go ballistic with joy. Today, it was like the orphanage had been deserted altogether. The young nurse felt his shadow become thinner.

"Gray?!" a surprised voice came echoing around the hallway. Next came the sound of slippers slapping against the concrete floor.

"Sister?" he called back in a question. There was only one nun in the orphanage who wore slippers inside the house. "Sister Ul!"

A woman wearing a grey and white habit came running toward him. In both hands she clutched her skirt as she ran. Ul Milkovich was the nun who had been taking care of Gray since he was 'dropped-off' at the orphanage. The woman had aged gracefully with crow's feet to the sides of her beautiful brown eyes. There was, as always, a big and warm smile on her face that made the young nurse smile, too.

Ul took one of the bags in Gray's hands in hers. "Hi, you're early."

"Yeah, I didn't really have anything better to do, so…" They started to walk inside now, still no signs of life. "Where is everybody?"

"Ah, that," Ul answered, "There was this lady who suddenly appeared earlier this morning. She said she wanted to throw everybody a party."

"A party?" he asked. "This isn't one of those politician guys, is it?"

"I thought so, too, at first. But then she was so young. And there weren't any photographers so I said, 'why not?'."

"They're not here now but later on, they'll come," he told her and they turned to the hallway which led to the mess hall. From there, Gray could distinctly hear various noises that sounded like kids' feet and chattering mouths. He smiled. "If they come, what'll you do?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm pretty sure they won't come," she said and swung the huge screen door open. "Hey, everyone. Guess who's here?"

Kids of every color and size turned toward Ul's voice and screamed, 'It's Gray!' or 'Gray's here!' Not a second later, he was being ambushed by a few tens of younger children while the older ones stayed by the benches calling out to their oldest brother. The latter, on the other hand, observed the ruckus in the mess hall and saw that they were all busy playing with brand new toys, party bags everywhere.

"Hey, you bought toys, too!" squealed one little girl with brown hair and freckles.

"Too?" he clarified, one eyebrow raised, and scooped the girl up in both arms. Meanwhile, the rest of the pack tore the bag to bits and pieces as they fought for one or another toy inside. "What do you mean 'too'?"

"The lady over there gave us lots of them, too!" she said and pointed to a lady—

With blond hair of a nauseating shade; brown eyes that sparkled beneath pale lids and pinkless cheeks. The lady turned, and a wide smile slowly crept up to her face.

"Lucy?!" he exclaimed in surprise—a very pleasant surprise indeed. He smiled to her as well.

"Gray! How did you know I was going here?" she asked. Her blond locks were tied to a ponytail that followed after her as he ran to him. She was wearing a plain white tee, simple blue jeans and flip-flops.

"I didn't," he said, "I came here to visit the kids—this is my home."

"What a coincidence!" she exclaimed gleefully. "And you said you couldn't come!"

"You know each other?" interrupted the nun who had just finished dividing the toys equally among the children.

"She's… I know her from the hospital," he answered.

"This is such a happy coincidence," the nun said. She put a hand on Gray's shoulder and pat it several times, "Miss Lucy, Gray here has been a resident of our orphanage from before he learned how to walk."

"You never told me you were from an orphanage," Lucy said.

"Didn't really come up in my mind," he said. "But hey, this is number 89?"

"Yeah," she said and rummaged through her messenger bag where she pulled out the leather-bound book she had been keeping with her. "'Throw a party for kids,' see?"

He nodded. Then, without thinking, "I'm so glad you're here."

"I'm sure you are, dear," Ul answered with a sly smile. "You've got a lot to tell me, sister Grandine, and Erza." She then, turned to Lucy and gave a small wave, "Excuse me, Miss Lucy."

Both Gray and Lucy stared at Ul as she attended from one child to another.

"She's an amazing woman," commented Lucy in admiration.

"Oh, her tag team with sister Grandine turned me into the man I am today," he answered and watched, too.

"Who's sister Grandine?"

"The other nun who attends to the children here. Then there's Erza, the social worker who also used to be a resident of this orphanage."

"You have such a big family," the blonde said and there was a hint of sadness in her voice. Gray watched as her eyes travel from one child to another. "It must get quite noisy in here, huh?"

"You don't even know half of it," he said coldly. "I'd bet you'd just love to stay in places like these."

"I sure do!" she said.

"Hey, come on, I'll introduce you."

Lucy quickly took her hand back when Gray suddenly grabbed it by the wrist. "T-To who?"

The usually-cold and deadpanned Gray smiled warmly and with excitement, "To each and every member of my big family."


Greta, Anna, Luis, Sam, Miguel, Joannie, Roy, Jes, Arnel, Rhoie, Mitch, Jasmin, Kim, Vanessa, Emmanuel, Tara… the list could have gone on. When Gray told her he would introduce her to each and every member, Lucy probably didn't think he was serious. But they went on from child to child, teen to teen, and babe to babe just introducing the young lady. Although this endeavor was absolutely tiring, Lucy did not show it. She endured with grace every tantrum thrown and every question that was asked her.

Questions like, 'Who are you,' 'What are you doing here,' 'Are you coming here to adopt one of us,' and the ever popular 'Are you Gray's girlfriend.' Lucy would smile at every question, laugh at every honest remark by the children. Meanwhile, Gray was slightly regretting the decision to every introduce her. But then again, she would laugh and giggle and he guessed laughter was good for the heart; especially a heart as fragile as Lucy's.

Around three in the afternoon, the children were called back in for naptime and Ul left Gray and Lucy to finish up the restoration of the mess hall by themselves. It took quite a while but sooner or later, they were done. Gray decided to take Lucy to the huge backyard when she said she wanted to let some yellow balloons fly.

"I didn't see Loki or Virgo today," Gray commented and set the portable helium tank down. It was the same tank they had bought back when Lucy was out lost in town. "Why'd you come here alone?"

"Oh, I asked them to come and pick me up later," Lucy answered and they started to fill some balloons with air. "I figured that if they would be around always running after me the children would most likely freak out."

"I know Virgo would," he commented, "I don't really know what kind of questions those kids will think up of for her."

The blonde laughed. It was beautiful. "Like the questions they asked me a while ago?"

"Yeah, you can just forget about that." Their eyes met and, as if synchronized, the question that popped up in their minds was 'Are you Gray's girlfriend?'

They turned away sheepishly and Lucy forced out a laughter. "Y-You're right… Heh, kids."

Lucy and Gray were able to fill so much balloons that he thought they could probably lift him up in the air with ease. He handed it to Lucy who, as she usually does in her rituals, took them in both hands and gave a silent prayer before releasing them all in the air.

"Going, going," she said and watched the yellow balloons float higher and higher and higher up in the air, "gone!" She raised both hands in the air and did a small jump. Witnessing it again, Gray couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic.

"That was a lot of balloons," he said later on when they were on their way to the mess hall.

"Oh, be-because," Lucy started and the nervous stutter caught Gray's attention, "they were for items number 89 and 90."

"Cool. So you, like, get two wishes, right?" he said, "What did you wish for?"

"But before that, I have to do number 90 first."

Gray shrugged. "I thought you've done it already?"

"Not yet," she shook her head.

"What is it?"

"Uhm…" she started and didn't speak for a little while. She kept looking away and avoiding eye contact with Gray.

"Well—?"

"Miss Lucy?" came Ul's voice. Soon enough, her figure appeared from behind one of the trees by the path. "There's a man outside who says he's your driver?"

"Ah, that must be Loki," she said. "Please let him in so he can take my things back inside."

"Oh, sure, sure," Ul said. She approached them and grabbed Lucy's 'ritual kit' from Gray. "I'll be taking these to him, then?"

"Yes, please. Thank you, sister Ul!" Ul hurried to leave them, as if she knew something was about to happen.

For a little while, neither spoke. Gray was the first to break the ice.

"So…"

"Yeah…" she said. "So uhm, YOLO."

He chuckled. "YOLO?"

"Number 90?" she said. "It must be the hardest thing to accomplish so far."

"Oh, yeah? What is it?" Gray asked. The blonde inhaled deeply before grabbing Gray's sleeves for support. "You're… not getting an attack right now, are you?"

"I… hope not," she said. "Okay, here goes."

"Here goes what?"

"Number 90 involves me confessing to the one I like…" she said.

"Yeah… and?" he asked. His heart was racing in his chest.

"Gray," she said slowly. It was evident that she was about to have an attack. "Gray, I…"

He urged her to continue. "Yes…?"

"I think—"

"Miss Lucy, I think your driver is ready to leave—"

"Great!" she said. And then, as if that was the signal she was waiting for, she said without wasting a breath, "Gray, I like you very, very much!"

She let go of his sleeves and ran for dear life. Lucy immediately sprinted to the mess hall, past the hallways, and then out to the gates. Meanwhile, Gray was still processing every single word that she had just said. He didn't know what shocked him more: the fact that Lucy confessed or that she left him all of a sudden. All the things that have happened have rendered him quite speechless.

Maybe those scenes on TV were real, after all, he mentally noted.


WEIRDO BLABBS: Okay, let's just say for arguments' sake that Ultear doesn't exist. Thank you very much!

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