Chapter 10- Gray's Perspective

This is rich. I knew that Natsu and Lucy were good friends and all, but I didn't see this coming.

Natsu and Nyx had just left for their day in the town. Meanwhile, Erza, Lucy, Levi, and a few others were busy planning the party. It wouldn't be a surprise party- Nyx already knew there was going to be a party. What she didn't know, however, was how huge it was going to be. Fairy Tail didn't take birthdays lightly, especially the first birthday that a member celebrates in the guild.

The entire afternoon was spent decorating for a huge birthday party. However, none of the decorations where what a girl would usually have at her party. Nyx had made it clear earlier that she didn't like girly things when Lucy asked her what kind of clothes she liked to shop for. Gray laughed at the memory of it.

"Clothes? Why would I care about fancy clothes? They make it harder to run and move around. I don't give a crap about how I look. I swear the next person who tries to talk to me about how cute an outfit looks is going to be in a world of hurt!"

Gray could tell Lucy was scared of Nyx. Any sane person would be. She had Natsu's aggressive nature, but she was more intelligent and clever than he was. She thought before she acted, which gave her superiority over her brother when it came to brains. Nyx wasn't the kind of person who was constantly worrying about her appearance. Although, Gray did think that she looked pretty, which made him throw up in his mouth a little cause she kind of looked like Natsu.

There were decorations everywhere. They weren't your cheesy average party decorations; they were magic decorations that went above and beyond any person's expectations. Lacrima floated just under the ceiling, releasing multi-colored fireworks every now and again, so there were endless amounts of color in the sky. The stage was illuminated by three spotlights, each a different color. The tables were equipped with enchantments that cleaned up any mess you left behind, so there was no worry about cleaning up. Dance music was playing through loud speakers, which were magically altered so the volume of the music would be as loud as you wanted it. There would be no one arguing to "crank it up" or to "turn it down." Ice sculptures, courtesy of Gray, lined the table where a huge, strawberry cheesecake stood as the centerpiece. Erza was thrilled when Nyx said that it was her favorite kind of cake. It was Erza's favorite, too.

It was three hours before Natsu and Nyx returned to the guild. Natsu knew that Fairy Tail constantly went to the extremes, but Nyx had never witnessed first-hand how amazing a Fairy Tail Party could be.

The party would start the moment they walked through the door. Bickslow had been stationed outside the door to watch for Nyx and Natsu when they returned. The moment he ran back into the door, he yelled, "THEY'RE COMING! EVERYBODY GET READY!"

Natsu walked in first, closely followed by Nyx. They were greeted with a "Happy Birthday, Nyx!" from everybody in the guild. Music blared, people laughed, and Fairy Tail was thrown into a mass of dancing, partying, and drinking within a matter of seconds. Natsu seemed thrilled by the party, but Nyx seemed even more excited.

This is her first birthday party ever. It's a little sad, though. She's 15 and has never had a real friend to celebrate with.

Gray instantly got into the party, as did everybody else. Nyx may not have been much of a girly girl, but boy, did she know how to dance. She danced like no one Gray had ever seen before. Natsu, Erza, Gray, and even Elfman all joined in with Nyx as they partied away. Gray laughed- he hadn't had this much fun in a while. Usually, Gray wasn't much of a dancer and would most likely sit out during a party, but Nyx's good mood was infectious. It was like everyone around her suddenly got up and felt the need to start dancing. Gray wondered if it was because of Nyx's magic, but at the moment, he didn't care. All he wanted to do was to let go and dance, and by the looks of it, so did everybody else. Even Makarov was letting loose some moves that only people his age would know.

A good hour passed before the cake was cut open. Everyone gathered around the giant cake to sing happy birthday to Nyx. 15 candles were placed at the top of the cake. Natsu lit each one of them with his fire magic. The height of the cake made it do Nyx had to stand up on her chair in order to be able to blow them out. After the guild sang, Nyx took one huge breath and blew as hard as she could. All 15 candles went out. The guild cheered as Erza sliced the cake and handed the first piece to Nyx. Nyx took a bite.

"It's delicious!" She proclaimed with the cake still in her mouth. After that, the cake was mobbed with guild members, each taking a slice. Natsu ate at least 5 pieces, while Erza ate so many that Gray lost track. He had one piece, and he had to admit, the cake was pretty good.

When everybody had finished their cake, Makarov declared that Nyx open the guild's birthday gift to her. Nyx looked surprised. "You guys didn't have to get me anything. Being a part of Fairy Tail is a gift enough!"

Makarov shook his head. "Now, now, Nyx. It is custom to give a gift to a person on their birthday. The whole guild was glad to help out in getting you something on such short notice."

Nyx was lead to a table. On that table was a five-foot long box wrapped in glowing paper. She walked up to the box, holding it for just a second. Gray wondered if she already knew what it was because she checked someone's memory, but then decided against it. Gray knew that everybody liked a surprise, and Nyx wasn't dumb enough to spoil it for herself.

"Go on now, unwrap it." Gray said, tired of the suspense. Nyx nodded and carefully unwrapped the paper. Inside was a white box with a lid fitted on top. Nyx lifted up the lid, and inside was the most beautifully crafted bow Gray had ever seen. It was white, with silver trimming along the edges. The graceful curve of the bow was met at both ends by a fine white string that connected them. It was masterly crafted, given a graceful, but also deadly, appearance. The main attribute of the bow was the silver Fairy Tail emblem about 6 inches above where the arrow would be knocked. It looked to be the perfect size for Nyx.

But the bow wasn't the only thing inside the box. A white quiver sat holding 20 silver arrows. The arrow tips were razor sharp, sharp enough to pierce even the toughest of steel. The arrows had a faint glow to them, almost to faint to see. Gray guessed that there was some kind of magic used on them. He looked at the bow and saw that it, too, had a faint glow to it. The bow, quiver, and arrows must have cost a fortune all together. Gray remembered pitching in some money to help pay for the gift, but no one was told what it was going to be.

Nyx looked at the bow in wonder, too stunned to speak. She held the bow in her hand as if she had been shooting with it all her life. Gray wondered if she had ever even shot a bow and arrow before. It sure looked like she had.

"Oh my gosh," Nyx finally said. "This is beautiful! Thank you so much, everybody. This is the nicest bow I have ever seen. It looks like it was made by a master. Wherever did you find this?"

Erza spoke up. "This bow was made by the finest weapons maker in all of Fiore," she said. "I get all of my swords from the same place I got this bow. It has magical properties. The bow can only be wielded by the owner, which is you. No one else is able to pull back the string, not even me. The string will never snap, no matter how hard you or anyone else pulls on it. The arrows are enchanted so that they will reappear in your quiver whenever you need them too. They will never break and never dull. You will not have to worry about losing them. The best part is, if you accidentally hit something that you did not intend to pierce, the arrows won't go through, so you don't have to worry about hitting something, or someone, important. Oh, and there's one more thing. This bow takes extreme skill and precision to use. It will not take any magic energy to fire regularly, but if you wish to boost the speed of you arrows, you are able to put some of your magic energy behind it to do just that. Understand?" Erza asked.

Nyx nodded. "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. How did you know I knew how to shoot a bow, Erza?"

Erza smiled. "During your battle with Gray, I saw the way you squinted at him whenever you dodged his ice hammer. It looked as though you were looking down the shaft of an arrow. Also, you have the build of an archer. You stand tall when you look at someone and you have extremely good focus. I had a pretty good hunch you were adept at archery."

Gray was impressed. He knew Erza was good at deducting people's strengths, but he was amazed that she could figure that out about Nyx with barely anything to go on. Nyx looked impressed, too. "Wow, you're good at that," Nyx stated with wonder in her voice. Natsu looked at the bow like it was made of gold, but Gray could tell that Natsu wanted to shoot the bow for himself.

"Thank you so much, everyone! Now I can finally master the bow and arrow. I'll have to find targets to practice on." She looked at Natsu with a devious glare. Natsu understood perfectly what she implied. "Oh, no. No way are you going to shoot that thing at me for target practice. Nuh uh."

Everybody laughed. Gray found the idea of shooting arrows at Natsu extremely amusing. He wondered if Nyx was a good shot. Gray guessed that he would just have to wait and see.

Not a second later, the lights in the guild hall dimmed, and everyone looked towards the stage. Three spotlights were pointed at the center of the stage. The guild went silent as Mira walked onto the stage with her guitar and sat in a chair that was illuminated by the spotlight. Everybody sat down to listen to Mira sing. Gray had to admit, her voice was beautiful. She could sing better than anyone he knew in the guild. Nyx looked confused. "Is she going to sing?" She asked.

"Yup," Erza responded. "She's quite a prodigious singer. Listen."

Nyx stared at the stage and waited. Mira started the song.

The melody was a eerie, but also quite lovely. Gray personally enjoyed it when Mira sang. Everybody else seemed to, too. Everybody but Natsu. He seemed to care less about who had musical talent. Gray guessed it just wasn't his thing.

Nyx looked at Mira with wonder. "She has a wonderful singing voice. I've never heard anybody sing quite like her before. She reminds me of the songbirds that I listened to in my years of traveling. Every day was a new song to listen to. It was one of the things that made me feel a little less alone."

Jeez! This kid must have really had it rough if the songbirds were her only company.

Nyx suddenly looked at Gray with a dangerous look on her face. It was the same face she gave people when they called her "little."

Oh, crap. I totally forgot she could hear my thoughts. He then started thinking directly at her, hoping she would hear what he was thinking. No one has privacy around you, do they? Sorry I called you kid, but this is my mind. I can think whatever I want.

Nyx nodded in understanding. It was bizarre that he could hear him, but he couldn't hear her. He wondered if she could talk to people with her mind, like telepathy.

"Does this answer your question?" Nyx's voice suddenly popped into Gray's mind as clear as if he had heard it. "Cool," was all he thought back. Gray turned his attention back to Mira, who had nearly completed her song. A few lines later, she was finished. The whole guild clapped and whooped and hollered for an encore, but Mira took a bow and stepped off the stage. The next person on stage was one that people never would have expected before he joined the guild. Gajeel jumped onto center stage, rocking sunglasses and a white suit. He held an electric guitar in his hands. "I'm gonna sing a little song that I wrote myself. It's called, 'Best Friend.'

Gray had heard him sing this song so many times; he almost knew all the words to it. He wasn't bad, actually. Gajeel was a surprisingly good singer. He started off with his usual "Shoo be do bah" and other scatting. The guild had come to like his odd style of music. They cheered him on, but not quite as much as they had with Mira. Natsu, of coarse, was sitting at a table with his ears plugged. Nyx looked to be enjoying herself, as did Erza. Gray couldn't help but wonder where Juvia was. She was usually stalking him close behind by now. He looked around and, sure enough, she was staring right at him with little hearts in her eyes. Gray quickly looked away, afraid that he had made eye contact. The stalking part was a little creepy, but Gray had come to like Juvia. It was weird, he thought. Gray had thought that all the creepy stalking and obsession would drive him away, but somehow, it made him more interested in her.

He looked at Nyx, suddenly remembering that she probably knew everything she was thinking, but Nyx didn't seem to be paying him any attention. She was staring at Natsu, almost on the verge of laughing. "No way," she said, almost to nobody. Then she spoke directly to Natsu. "You're jealous of Gajeel," she realized. She said that loud enough for plenty of people to hear. Erza turned around to look at Natsu as well. Nyx stated again, "You're jealous of Gajeel's singing. Your jealous because he can do something you can't."

By this time, almost everyone in the guild hall was looking straight at the two of them. Natsu's face had gone considerably red. His head erupted into flames. "I'm not jealous that that metal head can sing!"

Gajeel had seemed to hear that last statement and smiled wickedly. "Oh, so you're jealous, huh? You wish you could sing as well as I can?"

Natsu was flaming with rage, quite literally. Gray was trying his bet not to laugh, and it looked like everyone else was doing the same. "You're jealous! I can sense it. Don't deny it, Natsu."

"I said I am NOT jealous of Gajeel. I'll prove it, too. Hey, Gajeel. Hand me that microphone!" Natsu yelled with a hint of embarrassment. Gajeel looked a little surprised, but then smiled and handed the microphone right over. "Let's see what you can do, flame-for-brains," he said smugly. Natsu snatched the microphone out of Gajeel's hand and held it up to his mouth. Gray knew that Natsu never backed down from a challenge, even if no one directly challenged him. Gray wondered if he was any good at singing.

Natsu started singing, with no music in the background. He sang a song that was relatively popular, but Gray didn't think that Natsu knew any songs by heart. Gray didn't even know that Natsu knew anything about music in general.

When I see your face,

my hear starts to race

and feelings overtake me

Gray was shocked. He would never admit it, but Natsu was a better singer than Gajeel. A way better singer. Everyone else noticed it, too, because when Gray looked around, everyone was staring at Natsu in bewilderment. Soon smiles came on their faces as they realized that Natsu was a pretty great singer. The whole thing confused Gray.

You in my arms

the sound of your voice

will soon come to break me

Gajeel seemed to know the song too, because he started to play his guitar in sync with Natsu's song. He smiled like he was getting really into it. Natsu smiled, too, as if he was no longer embarrassed and wanted to show everyone that he was NOT jealous. In fact, Gajeel started singing along

I cannot hold it back

when did love come to hate me?

Feelings I don't know

will all drive me crazy

By now, the entire guild was into it. Even Erza was smiling. Nyx had a grin on her face, as if she had planned the whole thing.

How can I not know

that love's about to take me

about to take me

about to take me?

How can love know

That I'm already taken

already taken

already taken?

Gajeel and Natsu were really getting into it now. They were dancing on the stage like they had planned it for weeks. Gajeel played the song like he'd known it all his life. Natsu and Gajeel sang the song so well that, for all Gray knew, they had been practicing it forever. When they finished, they both took a bow and gave each other a high five. Natsu started walking forward. Instantly, Gray shouted, "NATSU! Watch where you're walking!"

Natsu looked at Gray in confusion. "Wha… AHHHHHHHHH"

He had walked right off the stage.

Right on top of Lucy

Gray saw the whole thing clear as day. Natsu had walked off the stage, fallen on top of Lucy, and they accidentally fell to the floor, causing both of their lips to press together.

Gray almost laughed, but then saw the look of terror on Natsu's face when he realized what had happened. Lucy looked equally as terrified, but in a different way.

Natsu stood up without a word. Lucy sat there on the ground. Without warning, Natsu took of running and ran straight out the front door. Lucy continued to sit there, confused. Gray was about to run off after him, and Happy was about to do the same, but something stopped him. Nyx was standing. She held up a hand to Gray, silently telling him that he shouldn't go after Natsu. Happy seemed to know this, too, because he sat back down.

Nyx silently walked passed the crowd of people, and when she was through, she took off after her brother.

The sudden turn of events made something clear to everyone- the party was over.

AN: My friend made up the lyrics to the song. I asked her to and she was glad to help out. No copyright here! :)