"So how old is Rogue?" Gray asked. He smiled as he watched Wendy. She was a few paces in front of him, kicking rocks and humming a song. They were both wearing the clothes Lucy got them.
"He turned eighteen about a month before I met you," Lucy said. She had her hood down. Her hair was blowing in the wind. Wendy was too lost in her own world to notice that if she turned around, she could see Lucy's face.
The three were on the way to the job the guild picked out. When they got to the gate that would lead out of Magnolia, they were surprised to see the guard sleeping. It was late at night, so Gray understood. Lucy was angry about it, though. She figured it was her inner-leader kicking in. She honestly would have reported it to her father, since it isn't safe for Magnolia for people to come and go, but he would wonder how she knew. They've been walking for almost an hour, so it was still nighttime.
"How old are you, anyways?" Lucy asked. She knew he was about her age, so she never really bothered to ask.
"I'll be nineteen in a few days, actually," Gray said. He looked down at their intertwined hands and smiled.
Lucy's face lit up. Gray saw this and sighed.
"You aren't allowed to do anything about it," he said.
"But why not!" Lucy whined.
"Because normal people couldn't afford to do anything," Gray pointed out.
"Then what do you normally do for your birthday?" Lucy asked.
"Well, a few of us go on missions to get some money. Then the S-class go to other towns to by a bunch of alcohol. Usually Mira does this, but one of the S-class will then take the little kids on a 'special journey.' Then we all get completely wasted." Gray laughed, remembering his birthday the previous year.
"You know, we have thousands and thousands of bottles of wine, beer, whiskey, or any other alcohol you could think of," Lucy pointed out. "Actually, the people who make different types of alcohol are required to give half of their makings to us, so we have a lot."
Gray stopped walking. "Are you saying you want to bring alcohol?" he asked, trying not to sound excited.
"Maybe I am," Lucy said in a teasing voice.
"I would love you forever," he said, practically drooling. He was one of the few people that actually enjoyed the taste of alcohol. It was better than chocolate, to him. Most people just liked the affects, but he would drink it even if the affects weren't there.
"I think I can take the risk," Lucy said with a smirk.
"Good," Gray said. He grabbed her chin and leaned closer to her.
"Look, look!" Wendy yelled. Gray flipped Lucy's hood back up and stepped two feet away. Wendy turned around and ran back to them, since she got pretty far ahead. "Look, it's Hargeon!" She was pointing behind her.
"Then we better get going," Gray laughed. Wendy smiled and started running towards town. Gray smashed his lips against Lucy's, then ran after Wendy a few seconds later, leaving Lucy completely dumbstruck.
"Gray!" she yelled, running after him.
X
"This should be the last box," the supplier said, handing the box over to Gray.
"Thank you," Gray said. He handed the man the money before putting the box on his small wagon. It was about an hour past dawn. They just had to take the items to the shoemaker now.
Gray looked and saw that Wendy was still sleeping on the wagon. He smiled before looking over to Lucy. She was sitting with a bunch of kids around her. They were all laughing. He started walking over.
"There," Lucy said, putting a flower in a little girl's hair. The girl giggled and blushed.
"You're really nice," one of the boys said.
"Thank you," Lucy said with a smile. "You know, I have something for you guys." She reached in her cloak and pulled out a black box. It had white and pink sakura petals painted on it.
"What's that?" a girl asked.
Lucy opened the box. "It's chocolate. Would you like a piece?" She handed a piece to the girl .
"It's really good!" the girl said.
Lucy handed pieces to the other kids. They all thanked her and ate it. They've never had chocolate before, since they were so young. Gray and Natsu were the youngest of people that have tasted it. Most of the newer generation didn't even know what chocolate was.
"Now you have to eat a piece," a boy said.
"I don't-" Lucy was interrupted by a chocolate being put in her mouth. She followed the hand up and saw Gray sitting beside her, smirking.
"Come on, it's only fair," Gray said.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Is it time to go?" she asked.
"Yeah, we need to get you back anyways," Gray said.
"You kids stay out of trouble, okay?" Lucy asked. All the kids giggled and nodded.
"It's good to see you're making friends," Gray said.
"Shut up," Lucy laughed, hitting him on the shoulder. They both got into the wagon.
"You kids ready to go?" the driver asked.
"Yep," Gray said, closing the curtain so the driver couldn't see them. Lucy flipped her hood down.
"How long until we're back to the shoemaker?" Lucy asked with a yawn.
"I'll wake you up, okay?" Gray asked, moving Lucy so her head was on his lap. Lucy was asleep in matter of seconds.
"We're going to town?" Lucy asked. She was bouncing with excitement.
"We will once you go get changed," Jude said, ruffling her hair. Lucy was gone in a flash. Once she was back, she was wearing a different dress. She happily followed her dad to the carriage.
"Can I sit by Gray?" Lucy asked her father. He laughed and helped her inside.
"Of course you can," he said. He took his seat up front by the driver.
"I can't believe we finally get to go to town!" Lucy said excitedly.
"It's not that exciting," Gray said, folding his hands behind his head.
"You're just saying that because you've been there before," Lucy said. She laid down so her head was on his lap.
"No, it really isn't that fun," Gray said, running his hand through her hair unconsciously.
Lucy yawned.
"You can go to sleep," Gray said. "I'll wake you up when we get there, okay?"
"Thanks," Lucy mumbled. She never went to sleep, though. She just closed her eyes. The hour trip went by quickly, though.
"We're here," Jude said, opening the door. He helped Lucy out. Gray jumped out himself. The three walked into a shop.
"Hello, how may I help you?" a woman with a witchy voice asked. She was sitting on the floor, weird things around her. Lucy grabbed Gray's hand. She was really scared.
"Yes, I would like you to help me," Jude said, setting a hand on Lucy and Gray's heads.
"Yes, yes, and what would that me?" the woman asked.
Jude shoved Gray forward. "Wipe it completely," Jude said. He handed a piece of paper to the woman. "I want him to think this was his family."
"Is that all for him?" the woman asked with a crooked smirk.
"You know what? Make him hate the Royal Family so much he wants to kill us. That will make his life Hell," Jude said.
Lucy already had tears streaming down her face. She didn't know what was happening. She watched as the woman roughly grabbed Gray by the hair. She forced some liquid down his throat, making him faint.
"What would you like done with the girl?" the woman asked.
"Make her forget the boy. I don't care what you do, but give her a memory of today. Make her think it's her birthday or something and I took her to town. Oh, and make the town violent and scary. I don't want her every wanting to leave the castle," Jude said.
Lucy cried as the woman grabbed her hair. She felt the stinging liquid run down her throat. Then everything went black.
Lucy jolted up, breathing heavy. She looked over and saw Gray with a startled look on his face. She felt her eyes start to water.
"Whoa, what's wrong?" Gray asked, reaching out to wipe a tear that fell from her eyes.
"What was that?" Lucy asked quietly.
"What was what?" Gray asked skeptically.
"It was a dream," Lucy said, confused. "But it seemed so real."
"You probably just had a nightmare," Gray said, laying her back down. "It's alright." He started running his fingers through her hair.
"Gray?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, what is it?" he asked.
"What happened to your parents?" she asked.
Gray stiffened. He sighed. Wendy was asleep, so he figured he could say. "They were killed," Gray started. "I lived in a different town when I was younger. My mother's name was Ur, my father Kyle, my oldest sister Ultear, my older brother Lyon, and Wendy and I all lived together. Wendy was only two at the time, so it happened about five years ago. The King ordered for my town to be burned down. I got pretty beat up. I could only manage to save Wendy. At that time I dreamed about joining Fairy Tail, so I did. I found Magnolia."
"Are you sure they were your parents?" Lucy asked quietly.
"What?" Gray gasped. "How would I not know who my parents are?"
"I'm going to try to go back to sleep," Lucy said, rolling over so her face was buried in his shirt.
Well here's your update for the week. I think I have some time now to work on the next chapters. I'm on vacation, so I won't have much time. I have to say that I love ocean more and more every time I go.
Please Review!