TO MY READERS: Okay, well, I know this chapter is late but I think it'd be better to say new chapters will be up between Monday nights and Tuesday mornings. My deadlines are kinda all over the place right now. Also-side note-since yesterday, I will be working on giving you guys as much Gajevy as humanely possible. THE SHIP WILL LIVE ON! Please enjoy this chapter and I'll see you next week.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY of the characters or places mentioned in this story. It all belongs to the original creator, Hiro Mashima.
X - Of Water and Ice
When Lucy returned to Cana's trailer, she was completely drained of energy. She practically stumbled into her friend's home, Natsu having left her at the entrance to the park. It had been awhile since she returned and she had heard the Goodnight Ceremony ending. Cana would be returning soon and Lucy was just beginning to relax in the guest room when her friend came staggering into the trailer—clearly drunk—laughing as she moved to sit at the kitchen table.
"Lucy!" she shouted, taking another swig of her flask. "Oh, Lucy!"
"SH!" Lucy said, slamming the door closed and attempting to keep Cana's voice down. She began giggling uncontrollably and raised her finger to her lips, mimicking Lucy's gesture.
"Aren't you coming to the dining hall for dinner?" she slurred.
With her thoughts having been on her and Natsu's non-date, Lucy had totally ignored her growling stomach, demanding food. It was only until Cana had just mentioned the idea of dinner she finally felt her mouth water.
"Um…well, I suppose so," Lucy replied.
"I should let you know Juvia and Gray came to my tent earlier tonight," Cana said, her voice becoming steadier. "They said they're going to need your help tomorrow morning with rehearsing a routine." Lucy's eyes lit up and she felt excitement bubbling inside her stomach, accompanying the hunger.
"Really?" she asked, clasping her hands together against her chest.
"Mhm," Cana replied. "I figured you'd wanna go to the dining hall to eat and maybe talk to them about the rehearsal. What time they need you and stuff."
"Alright, I'll go," Lucy said. "Will you be coming?" Cana shook her head and took another sip of her drink.
"I just made my way back here," she said. Lucy shrugged her shoulders and headed to the door, smiling like an idiot as she made her way out of the trailer park once again to meet with everyone in the dining hall.
When she arrived, the tent was as busy and as filled as it had been the first night Lucy was brought in. Some people were still in line getting food and drinks but she wanted to find the table where her new acquaintances would be eating. She first was able to spot the short, blue-haired girl named Levy who she had been introduced to earlier that morning. Levy must've noticed Lucy's arrival because she eagerly waved her hand to her, inviting her to join her.
"Hi, Layla!" Levy smiled. Lucy sat down to take a seat across from Levy who had a book opened on the table.
"Hello, Levy," she replied, glancing down at the book. It wasn't printed like a regular novel but was thick with pages filled by someone's handwriting. As she got comfortable, she noticed Levy was holding a pen in her hand.
"What are you writing?" Lucy asked, hoping she wasn't prying.
"Oh, nothing very interesting," Levy answered. "I'm the bookkeeper of the circus. I don't perform or anything special like that, but I keep records of everything that goes on while we travel. How much money we've spent on food, clothes, props, etc., and also how much we make in each town. It's very important work." Lucy looked at Levy and saw her face contradicted the last sentence.
"Of course it is," Lucy said, reassuringly. Levy shrugged her shoulders, placed the pen in the spine of the book, and closed it, pushing it off to the side.
"Enough about me and my boring job," she said with a smirk. "I heard Natsu decided to train you as his assistant." Lucy couldn't help but feel the blush rise in her cheeks at the memory of her fairly intimate moment with Natsu.
"Um…yeah, he is," she replied. "But I don't think I'll be ready for a while." Levy waved her hand at her and shook her head.
"Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly. Do you think you'll really be able to perform on stage?"
"Well, I'd hope so. It's going to be a long process, though. So, how long have you worked with the circus?"
"Longer than me, that's for sure," answered a rough, low voice. Lucy looked up and saw the tough-looking guy with long black hair she was introduced to as Gajeel. He came behind Levy and leaned his arm on Levy's head, giving Lucy a smirk. "How's it going, Shrimp?" Levy's cheeks turned a bit red but she pouted angrily as Gajeel put his weight on her head.
"Oh, um…hello," Lucy said awkwardly, recalling how Gajeel felt about her seemingly light punishment for trespassing.
"Hey," he replied. "So, Salamander really is training you, huh?" Lucy nodded, twisting her fingers with nervousness. For some reason, something about Gajeel was quite intimidating but Levy just appeared a tad bit annoyed.
"We were just talking about that before you interrupted us, idiot," Levy sighed. Gajeel grinned and laughed, taking a seat to Levy's right which was at the head of the table.
"Anyways," she continued, giving Gajeel a pointed look—though it did hold a slight smile—before returning to Lucy. "I've been with the circus since it started, actually. I was one of the first people to join. The idiot sitting next to me joined after nearly robbing us blind." Lucy couldn't help her eyes widening at the mention of this portion of the circus' history.
And he was pissed about my punishment? she thought to herself. Gajeel must've noticed her expression—or read her mind—because his steely red eyes found Lucy's. She felt her body stiffen, Levy taking immediate notice and elbowing Gajeel in the side.
"That was a long time ago," he grumbled.
"Only about two years in my book," Levy smirked. "When we put out a notice for their arrest with the police of Magnolia, we could only find Gajeel and Juvia who's name was cleared by Gray when she refused to put up a fight after being captured. We tried to get them to talk so we could catch the other thieves but they wouldn't give anything up; and they didn't have any of the money either.
"The Master kept Gajeel's membership of the circus a secret for a while until he felt everyone was sort of okay with it. He fought a lot of us but Juvia pushed for him to join since they're so close." Levy winced a little at the memory. "But no one was really ready for it."
"Like I said," Gajeel continued, "it was a long time ago." Levy looked up at him and sighed.
"So," Lucy said, trying to strike up another conversation. "Gajeel, you, um…eat metal?" she asked awkwardly. He turned to her and let out a laugh before answering her.
"Yeah, I eat metal, among other things," he replied vaguely. Levy shook her head and smiled.
"Gajeel has this eating disorder called pica. He used to eat anything and everything in sight until he settled on metal as his favorite food group. Funny thing is though, he hasn't had any problem with it. For him it's like eating a regular meal. He just also happens to amaze people with it."
"Isn't it dangerous, though?" Lucy asked.
"Not if you're me," Gajeel smirked.
"I think Gajeel has eaten one too many screws for it to bother him anymore." Lucy shifted around in her seat and saw Gray and Juvia standing behind her, both of them dressed in their casual attire. She smiled at the sight of the two, the excitement of her new job returning to mind.
"Gray, Juvia, hi," she said. Juvia smiled and gave a slight wave while Gray moved to take a seat across from Lucy, Juvia tagging close behind.
"Hey, Layla," he said. "I'm guessing Cana already told you what Juvia and I had in mind for tomorrow?" Lucy nodded eagerly.
"I'd be more than happy to help you guys," she said.
"Juvia would normally be the one to assist Gray-sama, but she has to get a fitting for a new costume and we won't have another chance to rehearse it for another few days," Juvia explained. Lucy nodded.
"I just want to let you know, it could be a little bit out of your comfort zone," Gray warned. "It's not something we would ask of someone with little to no experience but I assume you're about the same height and weight as Juvia so you'd be a perfect substitute."
"It's alright," Lucy replied. "I'm completely okay with it."
"Juvia isn't so sure she is…" Lucy heard Juvia mumble to herself. She allowed her eyes to meet Juvia's who held a defensive and frankly frightening look in her gaze. Lucy felt a shiver go up her spine but she smiled and nodded to Juvia and her gaze let up a bit, a smile breaking across her face as well.
"What time do you think you'll need me?" Lucy asked.
"Eight o'clock sharp," she replied. "Juvia will have to be at her fitting for nine in the morning but she and Gray should both be there to brief you on everything."
"Okay," Lucy said. "I'll be there!"
The next morning, Lucy woke up before her alarm even went off. The excitement was too much to contain and she even had had a hard time falling asleep that night. But she wasn't about to let a rough night's sleep ruin this day. As she rolled out of bed to put her wig on she saw it was six o'clock in the morning. Cana would still be in bed for another thirty minutes so Lucy decided she would go ahead and make breakfast for the both of them.
Yesterday, when Cana was in the guest room cleaning, she had left Lucy a few of her old clothes to wear for the time being. Some of them were just shorts and shirts, but there were two dresses Lucy's eyes had been drawn to immediately. One was long, spaghetti-strapped, and beige with a sheer top and a lace detailing underneath, exposing the midriff. The second was also spaghetti-strapped but it was a beautiful combination of a very sheer pink mixed in with interchanging colors of blue, yellow, orange, and green, almost giving off the illusion the dress was made of flowers.
Despite how much she loved the two dresses, Lucy wanted to wait to wear them in case something special came up. So, keeping the day ahead in mind, she chose a pair of white shorts and a cut-off sleeved denim shirt, the ends of which she tied under her ribcage.
Emerging from the bedroom, Lucy began rummaging through the small fridge to find something she could use to whip up a good breakfast. Since most everyone in the circus relied on the dining hall for food, it wasn't very surprising to find Cana had very little in her fridge: there was a half-empty carton of eggs, a half-empty bottle of milk, some beers, cheese, and butter. Though she had made breakfast for Lucy after she spent her first night at the circus, she could tell Cana hadn't really had much to work with.
Deciding on making a simple meal of eggs, Lucy removed the carton and the packet of yellow cheese, familiarizing herself with the small kitchen. There were only four cabinets above the counter where the oven, sinks, and fridge resided: one had plates, utensils, and napkins, two contained pots, bowls, measuring cups, and a knife block filled with knives of varying sizes, and the last one was filled with nothing but cups. Even though Cana was the only person who lived in the trailer before Lucy came along, she couldn't help but think her friend had an awful lot of cups and mugs for one person. Thinking nothing of it, Lucy grabbed the large frying pan she needed as well as a large spatula and the plates and forks the two would be needing.
About halfway through making their breakfast, Cana's alarm went off to Lucy's left and she could hear her groaning as Cana moved to turn off the ringing. A minute later, she walked out of her room, her brown hair a tousled mess and wearing a tight-fitting crop top and a pair of old workout shorts. Despite her haggard appearance, Lucy couldn't help but think Cana was one of the most beautiful women in the entire circus.
"Morning," she grumbled to Lucy who was busy moving the eggs around the pan.
"Good morning," Lucy smiled as Cana made her way to the table, slumping into the booth.
"You're up awfully early. I thought you were a night person," she said. Lucy shrugged and moved to quickly start up a pot of coffee.
"I couldn't sleep so I woke up and decided to make something to eat."
"How nice," Cana said, haphazardly throwing up her hair into a loose bun. "What time does Gray and Juvia need you?"
"Eight o'clock. Juvia has a costume fitting and she and Gray really wanted to try out this new routine so Gray asked me to do it in Juvia's stead." Cana nodded, eyeing the coffee pot as though she were willing it to make the caffeinated beverage faster.
A few moments later, Lucy was serving out her cheesy eggs and grabbed the biggest mug she could find to give Cana her morning coffee. The two girls sat across from each other and ate in relative silence, only the sounds of chewing and forks scraping against plates filling the tiny home.
"Did you and Natsu happen to go to the beach last night?" Cana asked suddenly. Lucy nearly choked on her eggs and had to gulp down some coffee before answering Cana's question. Looking over the rim of her mug, she noticed Cana's lips turn up in a smirk.
"Who told you that?"
"You did, just now. Well, Happy also told everyone Natsu had left their tent to go see you so he was the one who spilled it initially."
"It wasn't a date, I swear!" Lucy said immediately. "We were just hanging out on on the beach as friends." Cana held up her hands in surrender.
"Hey, I'm not judging. I say go for it. Natsu's never had a chance to hang out with girls outside the circus. Plus I'm sure he'd love to get familiar with the unfamiliar, if you know what I mean." Lucy looked at Cana with confusion before her eyes fell to Lucy's chest. Lucy let out a shriek and covered herself, her face turning as red as a tomato.
"Stop it!" she cried out, embarrassed. Cana giggled and downed the rest of her coffee before standing to go back in her room.
"I gotta get ready for the day, so I'll see you for lunch, okay?" she said, her eyes full of mischief. Lucy calmed down some but her face was still red when she nodded to her friend. Cana laughed and locked herself in her bedroom, leaving Lucy to tidy up prior to her departure.
It took Lucy a while before she found Gray and Juvia's tent, making it just in time for eight thirty. Pulling back the curtain, Lucy stepped inside to see the two were sitting at the edge of the stage together, eating their breakfast out of plastic plates provided by the dining hall.
"Oh, Layla," Gray said, wiping his mouth and setting his food aside. He jumped down from the stage and came to greet Lucy while Juvia hastily ate up the rest of her meal, coming to stand next to Gray.
"Good morning," she said to them.
"You made it just in time. Juvia was going to leave after finishing her breakfast and we were afraid you backed out," Gray said, putting his hands on his hips with a smirk.
"No, of course not," Lucy said waving her hands wildly. "It just took longer than I thought to clean up after cooking." Gray chuckled and gestured for Lucy to follow him and Juvia back up to the stage. He held out a hand of her to grab as Lucy jumped up onto the platform, Juvia making her way onto the stage quickly to look Lucy up and down.
"The routine you and Gray-sama will be working on requires a lot of trust," Juvia began. "You'll have to learn to relax yourself or else it won't work and something could happen. Just remember, Gray-sama knows what he's doing and Juvia trusts him." Lucy nodded.
"Alright, you should probably get going, Juvia," Gray said, laying his hand on her shoulder. "You don't want to be late." Juvia nodded and walked behind Gray to head down the stairs of the stage, slipping out the curtain and into the bustling camp.
"Okay," Gray said, clapping his hands together. "First, I just want to familiarize myself with you, if that's alright. I'll just need to lift you for a couple of seconds so I can get a feel of how this is going to work and then we'll move on to the actual routine."
"What exactly is the routine?" Lucy asked, watching as Gray moved to the curtain at the back of the stage. He reached between the two and pulled out two odd hands made out of metal. He strapped them onto his palms and fingers and moved back to stand in front of Lucy.
"I want to try and use the spheres to lift Juvia off the stage, make it appear as though she's walking on water," he said. When Lucy's eyes widened, Gray shook his head. "Don't worry, it'll only be about three feet off the ground. And I promise it'll work out just fine." Lucy let out a breath, whispering a "okay" for Gray to begin.
He came in front of Lucy, only a few inches away, and bent down in his knees a bit before stretching his arms and grabbing Lucy's waist gently. He glanced up into her eyes and smiled at her nervous expression.
"It's like Juvia said. Relax. If you tense up I won't be able to do this properly. It's gonna be alright. I've got you and I won't let you fall, I promise," he said reassuringly.
"Okay," Lucy whispered, her voice shaking. "I'll relax." Gray nodded and shifted his body around, preparing to lift Lucy in the air.
Once he got a good stance, Lucy slowly rose off the floor and was held up exactly three feet in the air by Gray who didn't appear to be struggling all that much. Getting a good enough feel for her, Gray lowered Lucy back down on the floor and walked to the back of the stage again, pulling out a rattling box.
"These are the spheres I use," he said, dragging it up to where Lucy was standing. "Juvia and I have specifically colored ones: her's are dark blue and mine are light."
"Like water and snow," Lucy said.
"Exactly. And these," Gray said, raising his hands up to Lucy's eye level, "are magnetic hands we hid underneath our skin-colored gloves, similar to the ones Natsu used when he gave you your first lesson. All the balls have a magnetic layer which reacts perfectly with the hands, making it appear as though Juvia and I control these spheres. We move them around precisely so it looks like streams of water."
"I remember seeing your guys' show. It was amazing!" Lucy gushed. Gray smiled and nodded, swaying his hands and causing the magnetic spheres to rise from the box.
It almost seemed as though Gray were dancing, guiding the spheres to move around him and Lucy. His long arms shifted around his body gently, stepping backwards and forwards just so like it was a choreographed dance. She marveled at how he commanded the objects until he brought his hands down at his sides, the spheres coming to float beside him where they resided. Suddenly, a loud and boisterous clap erupted from the seats, causing Lucy and Gray to snap their heads to Natsu, who sat on one of the benches.
"That was so beautiful, Ice Ballerina," he smirked cockily. Gray's jawed tightened.
"Better than you, Flame Brain, tossing your stupid little fires around," Gray snapped.
"At least I don't prance around the stage like a ninny," Natsu replied, a wide smile breaking across his face. Gray looked like he was about to say something in return but when he saw Lucy—almost like he had forgotten she was there—he shook his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
"If you don't mind, idiot," he growled, "Layla and I are trying to rehearse."
"Eh, don't mind me," Natsu said, leaning on his hands as he got comfortable. "I just wanted to see you dance."
"Anyways," Lucy said, getting Gray's attention back. "How are we going to do this?" Gray moved to stand in front of Lucy again, controlling himself before answering.
"I just want you to stand perfectly still and relaxed. I'm going to make the spheres and myself do all the work. You just stand there, nice and calm," he said. Lucy nodded and took in a few breaths to get the nerves out. It didn't really work, but she gave Gray the okay before she could back out.
Gray slowly pushed his arms out towards Lucy, the spheres surrounding her in an instance. His hands rolled around with slight movements of his wrists and the balls began to swirl around Lucy. Though she wanted to see what was happening, she kept her eyes focused on Gray who was concentrating immensely on the movement of the spheres. Finally, Lucy felt the slightest pressure of the objects leaning into the skin from her knees to her feet. Only once did she dare to glance down to see the spheres were beginning to gather underneath her, preparing to lift her off the ground. Ever so gently, Gray raised his arms to the exact height he had lifted Lucy earlier. Following the command of their master, the spheres shimmied their way underneath Lucy's feet and rolled her off the floor, bringing Lucy up three feet in the air, slowly but surely.
Hovering steadily, Lucy gazed into Gray's eyes and began to laugh nervously but kept her body still. The only thing keeping her from falling onto the floor were the spheres Gray was controlling seamlessly but any sudden movements could ruin the whole thing.
"Perfect," Gray said softly, lowering his arms to bring Lucy back on the ground. When her feet touched the stage again, she let out a sigh and went to sit on the edge of the platform.
"That was so cool!" she exclaimed as Gray motioned for all the spheres to return to their box. He came to her side and sat next to her, smiling.
"You did very well," he said. "Now Juvia and I will be able to perform that in a few days after some more rehearsal time."
"I would love to see how you guys change it all," Lucy said, looking into Gray's midnight blue eyes.
"Sure," he said casually. "I'll make sure we reserve a seat for you in the front so you can watch it for yourself. I mean, you did help us out so it's the least we can do."
"That was nothin'," Natsu interrupted. Gray and Lucy turned their heads to him as he came to where the two were sitting.
"What would you know?" Gray said slyly. "It's not like you can lift anyone off the ground with flames." Natsu's face became contorted with anger and jealously.
"Actually, I asked the costume-makers to work on a fire-proof outfit for my new assistant. It'll be ready by next Monday so Layla and I will be working on a similar routine," he replied, crossing his arms and giving Gray a knowing smirk.
"You can't just steal a segment of our performance!" Gray shouted, standing and jumping from the stage to butt heads with Natsu.
"How 'bout I do it just to piss you off? Besides, Layla's a natural. We'll be able to master it in no time!" Lucy felt herself blush at Natsu's compliment but bounded from her seat to separate the two, wanting to prevent a fist fight.
"Knock it off, you guys," she warned, shoving the two away from one another. Gray and Natsu continued to glare at each other for a moment before Gray sprung back on the stage, removing his metal hands.
"You'll never be able to pull it off, Squinty Eyes," he said, hands on his hips as he stared down at Lucy and Natsu.
"Is that a challenge?" Natsu asked with a smirk.
"Yup. I want to see you try to do what I just did with Layla. I'll give you until the second to last day we'll be in Acalypha. If you can't perform…" Gray lowered his eyes, thinking of a good punishment. "You have to be my assistant for next summer. In a dress."
"What?!" Natsu shouted. Lucy's eyes widened as Gray's expression turned evil with a wide, stupid smile.
"You heard me," he countered. Natsu grumbled until he finally answered.
"Challenge excepted, Popsicle. But if I do pull it off, then you have to be my assistant and you have to wear a dress, too."
"Copying both my routine and my bet," Gray said, shaking his head and walking away from the two. "Good luck, idiot. You're gonna need it."
Natsu grunted and spun on his heels, heading out the tent. Lucy looked after Gray who disappeared behind the curtain and she hurried to catch up with Natsu. Emerging from the structure, Natsu grabbed her wrist suddenly, dragging her down the pathways through the tents.
"Natsu!" she shouted as he pulled her behind him.
"C'mon, Layla," he said excitedly. He turned back to her and smiled. "We can do this together. I know we can!" Lucy stared into his eyes and saw the small sparks flickering in his dark irises. When she saw those oddly comforting flames, she smiled and laughed.
"Okay!" she replied, picking up her pace to come running beside him.
We can do this, she thought. We're gonna make a great team!
A/N: Don't forget to leave a review! Hope you guys like this one. :)