I'm glad that so many of you like this story :D And this is the biggest chapter yet!

I know that last time I said that I would update during the weekend, but I had unexpected company that resorted into leaving my room for a few days. Then after the unexpected company left I learned that I had two tournaments back to back and we were basically one a road trip from state to state. But here it is...

I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters, and I do not own this plot. This belongs to CrAzY-SiLLy-Me, whom I thank very much for allowing me to use her plot to make more GraLu stories.


~Say It Again~

Chapter 9

July: Run, Hide, Shoot, and Hide


"And never in my whole life…"


"Wake up man!"

I smiled as Natsu pulled the blankets that covered my still sleeping boyfriend.

"Come on! You weren't this hard to wake up back in NDA!" He took a pillow and used it to hit Gray.

A grunt came from Gray, and I looked at the two, seeing Natsu on the ground, face on the floor with Gray sitting on top of him, pulling one of Natsu's arms and holding it against his back.

"I give up! I give up!" Natsu yelled.

"Hn." Gray got up and turned to look at me. "It's four in the morning, what could you two possibly want?"

"First, get dressed," I told him, smiling. "You'll find out soon."

"Fine…" He walked towards the bathroom to get changed.

Natsu stared at me. "How do you make him do that?!"

"Do what?"

"Do what you tell him without putting up a fight?!"

"I'm his girlfriend, duh," I said with a grin, and then turned to the bathroom door. "So, does he really sleep in only his pants?"

Natsu laughed. "It's a habit he can't get rid of, since in NDA, we never know when we're called." He shrugged. "But I would have at least thought he'd wear a shirt."

"Not that I'm complaining," I said, giggling.

"Figures…" Natsu muttered. "Though I admit, out of all the guys I've seen without a shirt, Gray has the best abs." He sighed and shook his head. "He still won't tell me his secret…"

"Have you tried spying?"

"Yeah, he does about a hundred push ups and crunches…"

"…I can barely do twenty…"

"Lucy," Natsu looked at me. "We're trained in NDA…"

"Right…"

"And trust me, a hundred seems like bliss already, sometimes, our commanding officers would make us do about a hundred and fifty or more."

"How the hell could you guys survive that?!"

Natsu grinned. "Gray and I usually throw a bet in to get some motivation."

"I see…" I smiled a bit. "So, if you've spied on him, why not do the same?"

"It's not working for me, I mean, he has something else, something else that does the trick."

"Popsicles...?" I guessed with a shrug.

"Maybe so…" Natsu mumbled in deep thought.

We both looked at the bathroom where Gray emerged from, dressed in a black shirt and dark blue jeans. "Mind telling me what this is all about now..?" He asked sleepily, yawning.

"First of all, Natsu and the rest need to go back to NDA, so we're seeing them off."

"Hn."

"And well, the other one is a secret." I winked playfully at him, and he just yawned again. "Come on! You can't be that sleepy! I mean, you're used to NDA right?"

"I haven't been in NDA for nine months Lucy."

"Right." I gave a nod and a sheepish grin, before turning to Natsu. "So, when are you coming back?"

"I don't know, maybe around December, for the holidays."

"Joy…" Gray muttered sarcastically. "I can't wait."

"At least pretend you'll miss me, you jerk!"

"I'm already wishing you wouldn't leave." Gray said. "How's that?"

"Oh fine, it will do."

I giggled at them, finding their friendship weird, yet cute. I mean, from someone else's point of view, one wouldn't be able to understand how these two are best of friends, but from the stories I heard from Natsu, a few from Gray, and bits of encounters I've seen when with them, I can definitely be sure that if someone would back Gray up all the way, it would be Natsu, and vice versa.

Why not me? Well, I'm just Gray's girlfriend, and I don't know everything about him, and there's no way we'll not end up fighting or having an argument throughout our relationship, since every relationship always has to encounter a problem or so.

"Oh yeah, before I forget, you might want to bring some extra clothes," I told Gray. "And don't ask me about it, okay? It's hard to keep it a secret with you just staring at me questioningly."

"Yeah," Natsu agreed. "This jerk has interrogating eyes."

"Shut up asshole."


Despite not knowing them for so long, I could feel my eyes growing watery at the idea of them leaving for NDA.

"Get going already!"

I looked at my boyfriend, seeing him glaring at Loke who didn't want to let go of Gray's mother after their embrace; looks as if Gray's parents and sister came to bid them goodbye as well.

But I wonder why it was Gray who reacted and not Lamar? I mean, he is the husband of Ur…

"Gray, calm down, it would be a long time before we see them again."

"Hn. Thank God for that."

"You're so mean!" Loke pouted. "You should listen to your father more often."

"Tch. Fine, how does I'll miss you guys sound?"

"Good enough," Loke said innocently.

And after a few more words were exchanged, they were ready to leave.

Juvia had given me a glare, but offering me her hand to shake, which I took.

"I'm still a bit peeved at the idea of you and Gray, but whatever makes him happy…" she muttered, letting my hand go and turning around while raising a hand and waving it dismissively. "Better not hurt him."

I smiled. "I promise." And though it was only a few moments, I saw Juvia turn back to me and smile a bit, before entering Natsu's car. Next thing I knew, a pair of arms had enveloped me from behind, and I turned to see Loke grinning at me. "I'm gonna miss you Lucy..!" he said in a happy voice. "Write to me, okay?"

"Um…" I laughed nervously, glancing at Gray who was twitching. "I'll see what I can do."

"Okay!" Loke let go and turned to my boyfriend. "You better not hurt Lucy, otherwise," he grinned playfully. "I might take her away from you."

"Hn." I was surprised when Gray smirked. "Just get going and tell Aries how you really feel when you get back."

Loke gave a mock salute, and got inside the car next to Juvia, who was busy listening to her MP3 player.

I looked up to see Lyon smile and offer a hand to shake, but I ended up grinning and hugging him. He was like a big teddy bear, and I recalled how Gray had tried to hold back his laughter when I told him that. I mean, I may not have known Lyon as much as I've interacted with Natsu, but I knew enough to know that he was a gentle type of soldier, except when angered as Gray mentioned...

"Take care of yourself, and Gray."

"Sure Lyon," I said, smiling when he patted my head and got inside next to Loke.

From what I've also learned from Lyon, he cared a lot about his friends, and that included Gray.

"Well, I'm leaving, you just tell me if Gray ever gives you a problem."

I giggled at Jura and nodded, giving a mocking salute which he returned, before entering his van where their luggage was.

"I'm gonna miss you Lucy!" Natsu did not hesitate hugging me from behind, and I saw how Gray didn't seem to mind and just turned to Jura when the older man called him. "Be sure to give that jerk a hard time!"

"I know you don't mean that!" I said with a grin. "And take care of yourself and be sure to come back! I want to hear more stories!"

"No problem! I'll even go search for Gray's records for you."

"Thanks Natsu." I giggled and hugged him as well.

"Lucy," he said, turning serious all of a sudden. "Take care of my best friend, alright?" He glanced at Gray who was nodding at what Jura said. "I mean, I'd be pissed if I hear he has hurt you, but I'll be pretty sad if I hear any bad news relating to him, and knowing that I can't be there to help him out." He gave a small smile. "I'm used to goofing around with him when he has problems, so, now that he's here with you, could you…you know, promise me that you'll always be around for him?"

I was shocked and amazed at what Natsu had said, and I smiled, nodding once. "I promise Natsu, don't worry."

"I know. With you around, I can be assured."

He gave me one last hug, before turning to Gray who met him halfway, and I managed to hear bits of their conversation.

"You better not blow it with her."

"Hn. No problem there."

"And tell me when the wedding will be." He grinned. "I'll be there to be your best man no matter what."

Gray smirked and shook his head, before raising a fist, which Natsu knocked with his own, and their fists remained like that for a while.

"Don't stop being a jerk."

"Don't stop being an idiot."

And it was only then did they part, Natsu grinning, Gray smirking – and based from their interaction, a few tears had begun to spill as a smile made its way to my lips; I love their friendship, and seeing them parting ways just made me feel how strong their bond as friends and partners is. I didn't even notice Gray was next to me until he placed an arm around me and gave me a small smile, which I returned with the same smile as well, and we turned to the two cars that were pulling out of the driveway and down the road, wondering when we will be able to see them again.

"Natsu told me to tell you to not stop being so sweet," Gray said, and I ended up hugging him, knowing that I'm now really a part of his life, as well as his friends' lives.


The laughter just broke out from me when I saw Gray's baffled expression. It was really funny how he hadn't realized what today is.

"Are you that much of a bastard to not know that it's your freakin' birthday?!"

Levy had to scold Gajeel for calling Gray a bastard.

"I thought it was still the 22nd."

And I laughed all the more when Gray said that, and I just had to hug him and wrap my arms around him. "Natsu didn't greet you because I pleaded him not to."

"Why?"

"You were still unaware, so he agreed after I told him what we planned, unfortunately, he and the others couldn't come when Jura called to say that they were needed back, ASAP."

"No wonder he kept grinning on the way to pick the others up."

"But he felt bad for not being able to greet you, yet he told me to give you this."

I took something out of my backpack and handed Gray a small, neatly wrapped box – the ribbon was dark blue, and the package itself had a slighter shade of the same color.

"Natsu wanted to use pink just to annoy you, but he thought that buying pink wrappers and ribbons might make him look gay."

"Hn." I saw a small smirk on his lips, which I couldn't help but kiss.

"Happy birthday."

He smiled a bit, and leaned back down to kiss me again. "Thanks."

"Open it," I said with a smile. "Natsu's waiting for me to send him a message about your reaction."

He gave a light laugh, before turning to the package and carefully unwrapping it; he opened the white box and looked inside, and I saw him blink, before his gaze softened, and he smiled a bit.

"Well?"

"That idiot," he muttered softly, placing down the wrapper and ribbon on a table we stood next to.

"What did he get you?"

"You know, Natsu has connections with a company that creates accessories, including military tags."

"So I'm assuming his gift comes from that company?"

"Aa." He picked up the item inside the box, pulling out two dog tags. "He mentioned something about buying you a belated birthday present; I guess this is it as well."

"He shouldn't have…" I said, taking one tag from Gray. I looked down and smiled upon seeing Gray's first name on it, and then an 'x', and then my first name - all in bold and engraved in black. Below it were the numbers '03280723', our joint birthdays, and below it even were the clichéd words of 'Together Forever' – italicized.

Gray x Lucy
03280723
Together Forever

"Looks like we have a new tag to add." Gray told me, removing the chain around his neck to put the one Natsu gave to us. I noticed that he placed it at the front, so I did the same.

"Now we have our names separately, and together."

"Aa." He kissed my forehead, and I smiled, before our fingers intertwined, and we turned back to Gajeel and the rest who were eyeing the whole amusement park, not knowing where to go first.

Smiling, I pulled out my phone and sent Natsu a message regarding Gray's reaction, including mine, and I also thanked him. He quickly replied with a 'no problem' and a smiley face at the end.

"Alright! We've decided!" Gajeel announced. "We'll let the celebrant decide first!"

I noticed Gray blink and then eye the whole place, also unsure of what ride to pick.

"What do you want?" he asked me.

"It's your birthday, so anything you want is fine with me."

"I don't know either," he confessed. "The last time I ever went to these events and actually had fun was when I was still a kid."

"What about when you saved me?"

He smiled at that memory, but shook his head. "I was only walking around at that time."

"Oh. Well, what ride did you last go on?

"Rapids."


We did say that we'll go with what he decided on, so despite how soaking wet we all were, we still managed to laugh and go again.

The ride to the rapids was pretty fun, despite Mira screaming how she was going to die, and clinging onto Freed for support. Levy may have looked calm, but the way she had held onto Gajeel told us otherwise, not to mention how Laxus was gripping onto the safety rails tightly, while his girlfriend was having the time of her life. As for Jellal and Erza, they were probably the ones who enjoyed it as a couple, but of course, there was still us, and frankly, I was pretty scared too, but having Gray near me, holding onto my hand, managed to get rid of my fear.

We all changed our clothes first, the guys all wearing sneakers and dark jeans still, yet their shirts were of different colors to match their shoes, which were either Converses or Nike's, or maybe Addidas – Freed had a green one with a "no smoking" sign in the center, Gajeel had a plain grey shirt, and Jellal sported a plain white collared shirt, the initials of the brand on the upper left part of his chest, and Gray – as always – had a black shirt on, but I admitted how the dragon outline on the front was pretty cool, and it was in red. He told me his name was written at the back, and I checked to confirm it, seeing the red words of his name.

"Cool!"

"My sister got his artist friend to do this for me."

"Aww…" I giggled.

The girls wore light blue jeans, including myself, and we all had shirts of our desired colors too. Mira's was purple; Levy picked a orange button-up shirt, a white tube top underneath it. Cana had a sleeveless shirt on at the color of black, and she sported a white hooded jacket over it, except the sleeves were folded. Erza picked a blue shirt with a kunai print on it, and I decided on a dark blue hoody. It was pretty much fitted, and I got it from Mira on my last birthday, and well, it was long enough to not show some skin, but the moment I raise my arms up, it would reveal my belly, and though I was embarrassed, Cana kept commenting that there was no reason for me to feel insecure, especially if Gray would be in overprotective mode, which the girls were probably wanting to happen.

"Er…" I wrapped my arms around Gray's right arm. "Um…"

"You look fine." He said, sighing, brows slightly narrowed and head tilted a bit to the side. "As much as I hate to admit it."

I smiled. "Why?"

"Guys are looking."

"So?" I grinned, teasing him. "At least they can see I'm with you."

"Hn…" he still didn't seem convinced, and I remember Natsu telling me how Gray hated the men in NDA for staring at the women the wrong way, and I can see that he has yet to get rid of that habit.

"You know, I ought to wear something more revealing next time, I like seeing you getting worked up."

"Don't even dare."

"Why not?" I grinned. "It's for you anyway."

He "tch-ed", and then looked at me. "Whether you're in an old shirt, or even in tattered clothes, I could care less," he muttered. "Even if you're wearing something too simple, I wouldn't mind." He looked back up ahead. "You're my girlfriend, that's what matters to me."

"You mean," I pretended to frown. "You don't care how I feel towards you?"

He twitched, and inwardly, I giggled.

"You know what I mean…"

"Yeah, but come on! I want to hear you say it again!"

"No," he muttered.

"Why not?"

"You're expecting it."

I was speechless, and then, I smiled. "You know, you always say some things unexpected, and really, I feel luckier each time I spend with you."

He smirked at me. "I'm just glad to have you."

"What's next?!" Erza asked excitedly, cutting our conversation off.

Gray looked at me, since we all agreed that after Gray picks, he'll decide on who would pick next. So that's my cue…

"I think a calmer ride will do us some good, especially Levy and Mira." I giggled, not mentioning Laxus's name since I figured he wouldn't want any of the others to know. "Are you all fine with the carousel?"

"YES!" Both Mira and Levy replied too quickly. Erza sighed but shrugged, and Cana just muttered a "whatever". Laxus murmured "troublesome", but I knew he was grateful for that. Freed, as always, remained quiet, and Jellal just grunted, while Laxus frowned but followed the rest. I glanced at Gray who just intertwined his fingers with mine and pulled me to follow the others.

"Are you okay with my pick...?"

"Yeah," Gray answered, looking at me. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't think you're the type who would go on rides like that, including the Ferris wheel."

"I enjoyed the merry-go-round when I was a kid, so there's no denying that I – at some point – liked the ride."

"So, you don't really like it now?"

"I don't hate it either, but I'm fine with almost anything." Gray looked at me again. "Keyword: ALMOST; so don't make me go on kiddy rides like those…" He pointed at some saucers and cups that served as rides for toddlers, and I laughed, promising that I won't make him go on those.

"Well, we're here," Mira exclaimed, a little too happy. "Let's go." She grabbed Freed, and the boy opted to just stand next to Mira, who was already straddling a horse. "Freed, you might get dizzy!"

"I'll be fine."

I smiled at them, and then looked at Gajeel and Levy, who were right next to each other's horses. Same goes for Jellal and Erza, as well as Laxus and Cana – though Laxus chose the one that didn't go up and down.

"You think you could reach that?"

I playfully glared at Gray who was smirking at me, apparently making fun of my height.

"Of course I can!" I struggled for a bit, but managed to get on, giving Gray a cheeky grin.

"Hn." He just shrugged, and then, to my surprise and the others', he got on behind me.

"G-Gray?"

"It's my birthday, remember?" he whispered, wrapping his arms around me to hold onto the pole in-between my legs that would cause the horse to move, his hands over mine, and I blushed at our position and close contact. "Besides," he added. "I want to be this close to you." He smirked, and I just laughed and leaned against him.

"Fine, be my pillow."

"Aww…Freed! Get on behind me too!" I heard Mira cry out, and I glanced to see Freed muttering a few words and doing what Mira wanted.

"You copycat!" I accused Mira with a grin.

"So sue me! I'm jealous!" she yelled back with the same smile.

"Hang on you two," Levy told me and Gray, taking out her camera from her shoulder bag. "I want to take a picture."

Gray flinched a bit, since he was not really fond of cameras, and I knew why - he and Natsu told me about his encounters with fan girls.

"It's Levy, don't worry." I assured him.

"Hn. But her boyfriend's the loser."

Ever since Gajeel told us about his high school escapades, Gray started calling him a dead last.

"Don't worry," I said. "Once Levy tells him not to, he won't."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Good."

"So if the loser does something I don't like, you'll pay for it."

"Fine."

We looked at Levy, since she was directly in front of us, and I smiled.

"Aww…you two look so cute," she told us, looking at the image in her camera. "I'll post it at multiply, so that it won't be shown to the public."

"Eh? Just post it on Facebook!" Mira yelled.

"Yeah! We all look great in those pictures! And the world could use a few laughs from some goof-ups!" Cana added.

Levy smiled slightly. "I think Gray wouldn't want some pictures to be posted."

"It's fine."

We all looked at Gray, surprised that he actually agreed.

"It doesn't matter." He shrugged, so Levy nodded, and soon, the ride began.

"Really now?" I asked.

"Aa," he replied, smiling at me. "At least this time, everyone will know that you're my girlfriend, and that I'm taken."

"You are really lucky that I love you and that you're cute, otherwise, I'd cringe at your cheesy lines."

"Hn. It's not like I always say cliché lines."

"Yeah," I kissed his cheek. "I know."

Given our position, I didn't want the ride to be over, especially since it was so comfortable being in his arms, but all good things come to an end after all…

"Come on."

I looked down at him since he had already got off, and was offering his hand to me in order to help me off.

I smiled and took Gray's hand, and he caught me when I jumped off.

"Thanks," I whispered, kissing his lips lightly, and when I pulled away, he smiled. "You're welcome." And he kissed me too.

I heard a click, and then a flash, and we pulled away to see Levy and the girls giggling and gushing at how sweet we were. They just took a picture of us kissing, and I was being carried by Gray around the waist.

Hm...I'm going to make that my primary picture in Facebook.

"Such a sweet moment!" Mira laughed.

Well, yeah, all good things come to an end, but glancing back at Gray and seeing him smile, I knew that this good thing that I have with him won't end, because I'm pretty sure he won't let it be over, and I won't too.

"Okay Lucy, who gets to pick next?"

I looked at their eager faces when we got off from the carousel, and then glanced at my watch.

It was almost noon.

"Why don't we get something to eat first to avoid the crowd?"

"Fine by me," Gajeel said, leading the group.

"You better not lead us to ramen," Jellal warned.

"Geez. There are so many food stalls here! Go pick what you guys want!" Gajeel argued.

Well, Levy still followed Gajeel to a ramen stand, while Freed and Mira opted for takoyaki, but I wasn't really fond of octopuses, so I turned to Gray who asked me what I wanted, and I told him I'd go with whatever he decides, so I'm not sure where Jellal, Erza, Laxus, and Cana went to eat.

"I don't know either," he told me, adjusting the straps of his backpack, and I checked mine in case I left out some zippers open.

"Oh, wait," I told him, finding something hard and wrapped in a cloth in my bag. "I forgot about this," I said with a sheepish grin, and then led him to some empty tables.

He sat down next me, and I took out a bento box, handing him my backpack when he asked for it, and he set it down on the cement floor in between his legs, and I briefly thought about how clean this place actually was, and how there were still only a few people around.

Oh yeah, it's a Thursday, so teenagers are in school, save for some college students who didn't have classes today, and I tried hard to not glare at a group of friends, majority of whom were girls. Calling them pretty would be an understatement, and beautiful sure was not enough, so I guess…ugh. Fine, they were hot, in boy language, and well, they were the kind of girls who are probably the popular ones in their school, and the guys they were with were probably jocks, and I could care less at how they looked at me, knowing that they were wondering why my boyfriend chose me of all people, and boys like that could only think of one way to know the answer.

"Hey," Gray called me, and I looked at him. "You're frowning."

"I am?" I touched my forehead and felt the creases. "Sorry."

I saw him glance at the same group I was describing earlier, and he scowled at the sight of the guys – three or five, not sure – who were eyeing me, not even noticing that the girls, seven at most, were ogling him like an item in a store that they badly wanted.

"Ignore them," I told him, smiling when he turned back to me. "I remembered cooking this earlier; my mom even assisted me and made dessert for us." I brought out a plastic container from my bag, showing him the fruit salad. "She made sure it wasn't too sweet, after recalling how you still ate the sweet dumplings despite cringing at the sugary taste."

Gray flinched. "She noticed...?"

"My mom has keen eyesight, and she told me to tell you that you should have said something."

"I didn't want to be rude."

"And that's one of the things that she likes about you."

He smiled a bit, and I tried to ignore the squeals of those girls.

"Anyway," I opened the bento, and smiled. "I hope this would be enough," I said, eyeing how thick the bento I used was, meaning it had bigger portions.

I took the disposable chopsticks and separated it for usage, and then picked up a piece of fried pork, dipped it in the sauce in another container, and then had it near his lips.

"Say 'aaahhh'," I said with a grin. Gray just smirked at me and took the food in his mouth.

I picked up an onigiri with the use of a napkin and handed him one, which he took with a 'thank you', but he held the tip of it near my mouth, and I giggled and bit it, chewing on the rice and smiling.

After we ate more than half of the bento, I glanced at the same group to see them still there, eyeing us.

"Don't they have anything better to do?" I whispered to myself, but Gray heard it, and he also looked at the group.

"Forget about them," he told me, spooning the fruit salad and feeding me. "They're just jealous."

I smiled and chewed the fruits. "I don't blame the girls for looking at you."

"And I don't blame the guys for eyeing you."

"So that's where you two are!"

We both looked up and saw the others approaching us.

"We've been looking everywhere!" Mira said. "But I guess you both had your own date." She grinned. "Maybe we should just leave you two alone…"

"Ah, no, no, no," I said, laughing. "Well, you guys also ended up going to different directions."

"Hn."

"Ah well." Cana shrugged. "If you're both done, let's go!"

"But we just ate…" Laxus complained, yawning. "We need to rest first before we do anything."

"Fine, we'll sit and talk." Erza pulled Jellal and sat at the vacant chairs. "Hey, that looks good," she commented, eyeing the bento and plastic container I brought. "Unfortunately, I'm too full," she sighed. "Those cheesecakes really hit the spot."

"Anyway," Gajeel and the rest also sat down. "What to talk about...?"

"How about some embarrassing moments?" Mira suggested with a grin. "I remember Cana being so busy exchanging text messages with Laxus that she walked inside the bathroom for boys."

"You promised not to tell!" Cana yelled, embarrassed when we all laughed.

"I couldn't help it," Mira said. "It was too funny."

"Not as funny as you thinking that guy games are so irritating yet you play Tekken!"

"Give me a break! Some of the guys there are cute, and the girls have really great outfits!"

"Well, let's not forget how Levy screamed at the mall," Erza reminded. "She was fooled by a plastic cockroach."

"T-that…w-well, i-it l-looked real!"

"Right," Erza grinned. "You were the only one who thought it was."

"What about you?" I defended Levy and smirked at Erza. "Let's not forget how you mistook one guy as Jellal!"

"They look exactly the same!"

"I admit that, but come on! Jellal was taller than him and that guy is too nice! What was his name again...?"

"Mystogan," Levy answered me.

"Yeah, that guy."

Erza glanced at Jellal who shook his head with a smile.

"Let's not forget about Lucy refusing to come out of Levy's bathroom when Gajeel came over to show off his pet panther."

"It was a freaking panther guys!"

Gajeel frowned at me. "Panthers are great!"

"They're scary!"

"They're not!"

"They are to me!" I said, huffing and crossing my arms.

"What about you guys?" Levy asked, looking at each of the men we were with. "Any stories?"

Gajeel looked down and scratched the back of his head, while Jellal coughed and looked away. Laxus chose to look up at the sky, and Freed was just as silent as ever, as if daring us to ask. I looked at Gray, who just took a sip from his sports bottle filled with water.

"Oh come on!" Mira whined.

"You go first Gray," Gajeel said with a grin. "It's your birthday."

He raised a brow at Gajeel, but just sighed and shrugged.

"…Well?" we all drawled out.

"Hn. I slipped off the plane that was taking me and my crew to an island…"

"…"

"YOU WHAT?!"

He just remained calm. "We were on a mission to save some hostages taken by terrorists, and to avoid making our presence known, we were supposed to sky dive a few miles away from our destination."

"Sky dive?!"

"Yeah, about…four thousand meters."

"You slipped man!" Gajeel yelled. "You slipped and you're remaining calm?!"

"Hn. It's easy to recover, you just have to be in free-fall position and then open your chute."

"You think that was embarrassing?! It's more of a life and death story!" Mira yelled. "And it's too cool to be an embarrassing one!"

"Not to us." Gray shrugged, leaning back against the chair he sat on. "Natsu and Loke wouldn't let me forget that incident." He looked up. "And I was the team leader at that time, so it was embarrassing to make a mistake at the start of the mission, especially since drop-offs are pretty much basic and simple to us."

"That is so cool…" Erza murmured.

"Anyway!" Gajeel stood up, chuckling. "Time's a wasting! Let's go make this 'ride-all-you-can' ticket worth the money we paid for!"

I knew that he was just trying to escape us, and that the other guys were more than glad to leave, but oh well, we were pretty much excited to take on the rest of the rides.

"So, Lucy, who's next to pick?" Jellal asked me.

"Um…Cana?"

"Cool! Let's go for airsoft!"

We all stopped, save for Cana and Gray, who looked pretty much unaffected.

"What?" she asked, looking at our reactions.

Gajeel turned to Gray and me, and then grabbed Levy. "We're teaming up with Gray and Lucy!"


"Here."

I looked up when Gray handed me a rifle.

"It's a M15A4 Automatic Electric Gun, should be easy for you to handle."

"Um…okay…"

Next thing he did was adjust the strap of my helmet so that it wouldn't be too loose or too tight, afterwards, he checked my vest, satisfied that I put it on right. Next, he secured my elbow and knee pads, afterwards, bent down to check the combat boots I wore.

"Gray, is this really a habit of yours?"

"No, it's for safety precautions," he told me. "We use airsoft for battle training back in NDA, since there have been accidents when real guns are used." He eyed me. "This may be fake, but those pellets could still hurt when you're not geared up properly."

"Ready yet?"

We both looked up at the person in-charge of the airsoft grounds. His name was Macao Conbolt, and like Gray, he was a retired soldier, as well as my boyfriend's former teacher in Strategic Studies.

"Those clothes and equipments just came in, so you're the first ones to use them," he told us. "Lucky you for knowing my former pupil."

"Hn." Gray smirked and picked up the helmet from the bench. "Thanks Macao."

Macao gave a two-finger salute, and then stepped out of the room.

"Ready?" Gray asked me, and I gave an unsure nod.

"So, let me get this straight…" Erza said. "Are we really evened out properly?"

"Aa," Gray answered. "Laxus can counter my plans, at the same time I can counter his, Erza seems experienced in airsoft, and Gajeel looks like he's done this before. Levy, Lucy, Cana, Jellal, Mira, and Freed have yet to try this out, so we're balanced."

"Nah, I think we're at an advantage," Erza shrugged. "You have enough experience in real combat, and this happens to be a pretend one."

"I've been out of the force for nine months and counting, so I might be a little rusty."

It was only then did I realize that this is the first time I've seen him in a uniform, so I stared at him.

We were all clad in black combat boots, dark green camouflage suits, and a bulletproof vest over it, plus elbow and knee pads. We were also required to wear goggles to protect our eyes, and I took note of how Gray's goggles were on his head, acting like a headband, some strands of his bangs falling back in place to cover some parts of his face. He lowered it, and we did the same, and then he put on his helmet and secured it.

"I'll need someone who has a steady hand and keen eyesight," he told us. "I need a sniper."

Gajeel grinned and eyed Levy, who blushed and looked away.

"Levy?" Gray called her, and she looked at him. "You think you can?"

"S-sure, but…I'm not too confident in taking down our opponents."

"Don't worry, just fire at will." He looked at Erza. "I need you to provide her cover."

"No problem there."

Gray then looked at me and Gajeel. "I'm not particularly used to having a team of just five, but I'll have to adapt," he murmured. "We'll be the assault team," he glanced at me. "And knowing how you have a tendency to panic, just remember not to shoot blindly, because you might hit us."

"Hey…" I pouted, and he smirked.

"Just making sure." He turned to Gajeel. "And as for you, don't even think about firing our opponents when they're already hit or down."

"Fine, fine…"

"Lastly, no one should remove their gears." He narrowed his eyes. "This may be all play to you, but take it seriously if ever you want to avoid accidents." He sighed. "And, when you're hit, you're hit. No doubts, no hesitations; we play by the rules. Once you're hit, yell as loud as you can to inform us, and then raise your guns or arms for confirmation, this would signal a ceasefire until you reach the safety area."

"Man, I bet you're feeling like you're back in NDA," Gajeel said, face scrunched up because he was excited to start.

"This is like a re-enactment of war, loser," Gray said. "Therefore, taking this seriously, at the same time, remembering that this is just a game, is a must."

"Right…" he said, nodding.

"That said, any other questions?"

"Yeah," I said. "Are you going to use NDA language?" I grinned. "We might not be able to pick up your commands."

He just smirked at me. "I'll stick to words you'll understand."

"So, what's our team name?" Gajeel asked.

Gray just shrugged. "You guys decide, I don't really care much for team names, since we use words like Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta – words you hear from movies, NATO Phonetic Alphabet."

"How about Delta Team?" Gajeel wondered out loud.

"Hn. Whatever…"

And soon, after Gray told us his plan, we started our airsoft game.

I saw Gray gesture at Levy and Erza to take their positions, and then at me and Gajeel to follow closely behind, yet far enough to not form a "clump" in enemy eyes – this way, we can be close to each other to help, yet far apart to prevent from getting hit all together.

I tried to calm myself, since I could feel my heart beating so fast, and how I couldn't stop myself from shaking. Gray wasn't kidding when he told us that this may have been a game, but it was close to reality.

"Lucy," I blinked and placed a finger on the communicator against my ear. "Are you in position?"

"Y-yeah…" I answered.

"Levy?"

"Yes."

"Gajeel?"

"Yup."

"Erza?"

"Yeah."

"Good," he said. "Keep a sharp eye for Jellal, as well as Laxus, they'll be our first targets."

We all confirmed his command, and I swallowed and exhaled lightly, trying to motivate myself to do well.

Gray told us beforehand that Jellal and Laxus would be our first targets, followed by Freed, Cana, and Mira. I understood why Mira would be the last, I mean, my best friend sucked at these things, so eliminating the threatening ones first would put us at ease.

"Levy, do you have a clear shot of Freed?"

"Yeah, I see him in the open, should I shoot?"

"Negative," Gray answered. "This could be a trap to determine our location."

Looks like my boyfriend's NDA instincts are kicking in.

"Erza, provide cover for Levy," he paused for a moment, and then I heard him speak again. "Levy, we'll risk it; after taking the shot, get out of there and head for your next position."

"Okay."

"Fire at will."

I heard the sound of a gunshot, and the next thing I knew, Freed exclaimed that he was hit, and raised his arms, along with his gun.

"Levy, move," Gray said. "By now, Laxus may have calculated your spot."

As soon as Freed was out of the game and back in the safety area, I heard Erza curse, saying that there were two people tailing after Levy. "I can't get a good hit on them!"

"Gajeel, go," Gray said, still remaining calm.

"Got it!" Gajeel said, and I saw him stand up from behind a bush and run towards Levy. He dived down and shot Jellal's leg, but at the same time, Mira shot his arm, and both boys got up to say that they were hit, yet Gray told Levy to keep heading for her next spot, while Mira stood still, eyeing her surroundings, probably looking for the rest of us.

"Damn." I heard Gajeel curse. "Was that supposed to happen?!"

Gray didn't answer, so we all ended up wondering what he could be planning.

It took about another minute and a half before I spotted Cana hidden behind a tree, and from my position, I can tell that she was ready to take down Erza, who was unaware of her presence, so I ran towards Cana, and heard her yell: "Laxus, now!" and when I looked to my right, I saw Laxus get up from his spot on the tall grass, and had his gun aimed at me, and that was when I froze.

"Shit." I heard someone say, and then felt myself being tackled onto the ground, right behind a tree. "Erza, move out!"

I looked up and saw Gray, over me, his helmet off, but he wasn't hit.

He quickly got off of me and prepared his gun, checking if Laxus was still around, cursing when he couldn't see the him.

"I'm sorry," I immediately said, picking up his helmet and staring at it. "I…I just…"

"I know," he told me, taking his helmet. "I know."

And I refused to meet his gaze, because I knew for a fact that he was just saying that to assure me. How would he know that I would freeze? He's a soldier, they were trained to not fear, trained to fight and be courageous…

"I did the same thing on my first mission," he confessed, checking the area. "Jura got wounded because of that."

"Gray…"

He smirked slightly. "I'll tell you some other time." He looked to the side. "Right now, we still need to take down three people."

"I'm hit!"

We looked at each other, and then to where Erza was, seeing Cana grinning at her, while our ally was scowling and walking to the safety area.

"Three-on-three," Gray said. "Levy, can you spot Cana?"

"It's not a clear shot, there's a tree branch preventing me from hitting her, unless I want to shoot her helmet, which I definitely won't."

"What about Laxus or Mira?"

"I don't see them."

"Hn. Change of plans," he told us, strapping on his helmet. "I'll lure them out, so take the shot as fast as you can. Lucy will back you up."

"Wait," I told him. "You're more experienced than I am, I should be the bait! I can't even shoot straight!"

"No," Gray told me. "You might not be able to run fast enough, not to mention, zigzag your way through cover." He got up, hiding behind a tree next to us. "The field is too wide, and if they have someone up in trees, I can still be spotted even if I dive for cover, not to mention, your golden blonde hair will give away your position too soon," he explained. "And not because I'm bragging, but I'm most likely their target." He paused. "Or you, if they want to get to me."

I sighed and nodded, knowing that he was right.

"Keep your back covered, and make sure you have a good view of your surroundings, same goes to you Levy."

"Okay," Levy and I said.

Gray then started moving to the field, checking if someone was out there, and I watched until he was no longer in my line of vision, not to mention how fast he moved amongst the tall grass.

Next thing I knew, Laxus and his teammates were firing at him, and I was thankful that he has yet to declare that he was hit, until, that is, he gave us an order, which I was taken aback that he would say that, and I immediately looked at him, seeing how he suddenly dove to the ground and raised his gun, yet not exactly saying that he was hit, and that was when Laxus, Cana, and Mira came into view, for they got up from their hiding places, thinking that they took down Gray.

"Now," he told us, aiming his gun at Laxus and firing, and then Levy shot Cana, and I got up and shot Mira, nearly missing her, but knowing how Mira reacts, a graze from the my pellet already got her hysterical.


"How the heck was that legal?!"

We all looked at how Mira complained to Macao, who was smoking and looking nonchalant.

"Just admit it, you were favoring their team...!"

"Now, now, young lady," Macao said, putting out his cigar. "Gray just outsmarted your team." He glanced at my boyfriend, who was removing his army suit, especially since it was too hot for him. He was wearing a black shirt after all, and his dark jeans only added more heat.

"Mind explaining what you just planned?" Laxus asked.

"Yeah bastard, I was out of the game instantly!"

I looked at Gray as well. "You told us," I gestured at Levy and myself, "that you'll keep running, in order for us to locate Laxus and the rest, but you suddenly gave out a new order."

He sighed and sat down on the bench, gazing at the floor and then turning to Macao.

"Alright, alright," Macao said. "Gray thinks explaining is a drag or annoying to him, so let me." He cleared his throat as we all listened in. "He graduated at the top of his classes from Defense Sciences, Strategic Studies no less." He paused and then continued. "Let's see…none of you expected for Gajeel to be out all of a sudden, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Hm. Well, he took a 'expect the unexpected' plot." Macao shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He didn't use you as bait, so don't take it the wrong way," he told Gajeel, seeing how he had glared at my boyfriend. "He didn't expect you to get hit either, but the moment you were out, he already had another plan, and that was to confuse the enemy, but to do that, he needed something to happen first that will get the opposing team to believe they have the upper hand, and that opportunity came when that girl," he eyed me, "suddenly froze, and when Erza here ran and got hit – those occurrences were something he didn't think would happen, and he turned it into a window of opportunity." He took out another cigarette. "You see, in war, you shouldn't let the loss of a comrade slow you down, nor should you run out of options or think negatively of the situation, Gray just did what we taught him to do, to turn a disaster into an opportunity."

"I don't get it," Mira muttered.

"Neither do I," Gajeel said, frowning.

"Gajeel and Erza's loss were a disaster, but he turned it into an opportunity to win." He looked at Laxus. "Gray, care to guess what Laxus had planned?"

"Hn." Gray closed his eyes. "Freed was bait to lure out the sniper, and then he used my sniper as bait to lure out a comrade." He paused and opened his eyes. "He was trying to force me to come out in the open, thinking that I'd eventually run out of options."

Laxus sighed. "So you went along with what I wanted, and turned it against me?"

"Aa." Gray smirked. "You'd let your guard down the moment you think I'm hit, all of you were anxious to see any sign of me being hit, that you forgot that I didn't mention being hit."

I recalled how Gray told us that he would feign being hit, and that he'd give us a signal to shoot.

"But it was on a whim," Gray confessed, getting up. "What I did was risky, because you could have taken the bait or not."

Macao nodded. "That was true, meaning the game would have ended with your team winning," he told Mira. "But as what Gray said, you were all aiming to get him out of the game, that all he did was to fall to the ground and raise his gun to make you drop your guard, when people get anxious, they want to be relieved as soon as possible. Your team merely wanted to take Gray out, and you were all instantly relieved to see him down on the ground, without even realizing that he hasn't confirmed being hit just yet." He paused, and then proceeded. "In other words, he played as a psychologist."

"Ugh…" Gajeel grunted, holding onto his head. "I'm feeling dizzy."

We laughed and left after that, with Gray staying behind for a bit since Macao had called him, before following us.

"But I have to admit," Laxus suddenly said, turning to Gray. "No one has ever countered me that fast." He gave a smile. "I ought to challenge you to a game of Shogi."

"Hn. I suck at that."


I can't believe how much fun we all had today, but Gray's birthday was far from over.

"Tell me again why you want to be here?"

I grinned at him and just leaned my head against his shoulder.

"You're not planning on answering…"

"I just want to be with you," I said, smiling and hugging his arm, and I earned a small smirk from him. "And well, I don't have a birthday present for you, since I kind of…have no idea what to get you."

"Why?"

"You don't like a lot of things." I furrowed my brows. "And what you do like involves military stuff."

"Hn…"

"So, I decided to just ask you what you want?"

"If I said 'you', what would you do?"

I blushed and slapped his arm, and he ended up laughing.

"Look," Gray said, lying down on the couch and pulling me to rest on top of him. "You don't have to get me anything, just your presence is enough." He wrapped his arms around my waist and glanced at the clock. "It's getting late, I should take you home."

I shook my head and closed my eyes. "I told my parents that I'm staying over at Mira's, and she agreed to play along."

"Lucy…"

"Don't even argue, mister," I said, poking his chest. "Besides, you love me right?" I grinned cheekily. "So I'm part of the few things you like."

Gray smirked again, and I had a pretty good idea at what he was about to say.

"Don't even go there."

Although, it's tempting…


"Have I heard words as beautiful as when you say my name..."


Sooooo? Like it? Like it?

Haha, great news! My writer's block is slowly diminishing! I think... So hopefully I'll be able to get back to Remedy some time soon after this story comes to a close.

Thank you to the reviewers, followers, and favoriters :) It is deeply appreciated.