Sorry about the long delay! I picked up my entire life and moved countries. It's taken a while to settle down, but I was always chipping away at this when I had a spare moment!

Last chapter, here we go!

"What'll it be, sweeties?" Mira asked brightly.

"Hangover cure." Loke and Cana muttered simultaneously.

"Coming right up! You two just stay here!" Mira smiled kindly and bounced away to prepare the drinks.

"Busy night?" Loke grunted, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Something like that." Cana grunted back. "Not as busy as yours by the looks of it, how much sleep did you get?"

"None."

"Thought so."

They sat in silence, both nursing throbbing headaches. In some sort of record, they had both been the first to arrive at the guild in the morning, even beating Mira.

"So, did you read your warm fuzzies?" Cana smirked.

"Something like that." Loke chuckled with a wry smile.

"What, really? I wasn't serious. How were they?" Cana laughed in surprise.

"Not bad, not bad. Yours was particularly interesting." Loke smiled mysteriously.

"R-really? Why's that?" Cana stuttered, taken aback.

"All those ways you described how amazing my body is, I didn't realise you were so into me."

"I DIDN'T SEND ANYTHING LIKE THAT!"

Loke laughed, and Cana joined in once she gathered that he was joking.

"What did you really think of mine?" Cana probed after a few seconds.

"I'm not telling you that!" Loke snorted indignantly.

"Aww, why not?"

"It's private! Go on then, tell me what you thought of mine."

"Uhh, nah, I'm fine." Cana looked away sheepishly as Loke burst out laughing again.

"How about this, we both say what we thought at the same time. On three?" Loke suggested.

"Alright." Cana agreed, rolling her eyes.

"One, two, three!"

They both started laughing again as neither said anything.

"Liar!"

"Liar!"

"OK, OK, but seriously this time!" Loke chuckled. "One, two, three!"

"Nostalgic!"

"Nostalgic!"

"Heyyyy! We're a pretty good team!" Loke laughed again.

"We haven't lost it." Cana agreed.

"I'm baaack." Mira sung, carrying the drinks. "Are you sure you two still need a cure? You sound a lot better!"

"Yeah you're right, bring me a barrel of your finest whatever." Cana ordered, sliding her hangover cure across to Loke. "Oh…and a glass of water." Cana added, as she remembered what someone had written her last night.

"And you, Loke?" Mira asked.

"Er, maybe after lunch…" Loke conceded, taking a drink of his vile concoction. "I need to go nap in a sunbeam for a little while."

"Weak." Cana grinned smugly.

An awkward silence stretched between them as Cana waited for her drink, and Loke remained seated.

'I challenge you to have a real conversation with me, tomorrow at the guild.'

Loke shuffled nervously in his chair, wasn't he just running away again?

Cana turned her head, eying him curiously. "I thought you were leaving."

"Oh, well, I, you know…" Loke trailed off meekly. "C-can I borrow a kiss? I promise I'll give it back."

Cana stared at him blankly for what seemed like an eternity.

"Are you trying to pick me up, or was that your attempt at a real conversation?" She eventually asked, bemused.

"Uhhh, a little of column A, a little of column B." Loke admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Mmm, well try again, you can't just open a conversation like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Gimme a sec, OK?"

Cana nodded and Loke went into deep thought.

"What's he doing?" Mira whispered, wandering over with a barrel of Fairy Tail's finest 'whatever'.

"Trying to think of a real conversation, I hope." Cana whispered back.

"How exciting!" Mira clapped softly. "Good luck!"

"Oh, thanks- wait! It's not like that!" Cana called after the disappearing barmaid.

"OK! I got it! Ready?" Loke announced, proudly.

"Yeah yeah, do your best." Cana drawled.

"How much does a polar bear weigh?"

"What?" Cana frowned in confusion.

"How much does a polar bear weigh?" Loke repeated, earnestly.

"Uhh, I have no idea."

"Enough to break the ice. I'm Loke, and you are?"

Cana slapped her forehead in disappointment.

"Idiot! I know your name! And that was still a pickup line! We've met before, right?"

"R-right."

"So you don't need to introduce yourself! Just…start a normal conversation."

"You make it sound like it's the easiest thing in the world!" Loke whined.

"Yeah, funny about that." Cana muttered under her breath.

"OK! OK! …How are you?"

"I'm a little tired, but still pretty good. How about you?" Cana replied cordially.

"Yeahhh, not so great." Loke sighed dramatically.

"Oh really? What's wrong?"

"I have a problem with my eyes, I can't take them off you."

"Asking how I am isn't a license to drop another pickup line!" Cana scolded.

"But Canaaaa, it's all I know!" Loke whined, again.

"Let me ask you this then." Cana turned to face Loke squarely. "Would you actually want to date someone who would fall for those lines?"

"Well"-

"Date, I said."

"…I guess not." Loke admitted.

"So let's try again, go!" Cana urged.

"Um, uh…what are you doing today?"

Cana narrowed her eyes.

"No! Not like that! Honestly, what are you doing today?" Loke asked again, with more sincerity.

Cana gave him the benefit of the doubt and answered. "Not much, I'll probably stick around here, I'm interested to see the fallout from last night's activity. You?"

"Yeah, I think I'll do the same. Hopefully Gray confessed to Juvia."

"Or Natsu confessed to Lucy."

Cana and Loke looked at each, before howling with laughter.

Across town, Natsu woke himself up with a sneeze.

OoOoO

"Good morning, Natsu!"

Happy flew into the bedroom, carrying a tray.

"Good morning, Happy." Natsu greeted, rubbing his nose sleepily. "What's that?"

"I made you breakfast!"

"Whoa? Really?"

"Yeah, sorry for being a brat yesterday, forgive me?"

"Oh! It's OK buddy, I'm just glad you're safe."

"Great! If I'm already forgiven, then you can share your breakfast with me!" Happy cheered cheekily.

"Let me guess"-

"It's fish!"

"You didn't let me guess!"

Happy dropped the tray onto Natsu, and it was indeed just a fish. Although in a rare turn of events, it was cooked.

"Did you cook this?" Natsu asked, shocked.

"I tried! I want to be, uh, self-suf-fish-ent. You know, cook fish myself."

"Happy, whatever happens, I'm always going to be there to support you." Natsu promised, suddenly.

"Booo! Serious Natsu is lame!"

"I was trying to be nice!"

"Nice Natsu is also lame!"

"Fine then! Mean Natsu says no fish for Happy!"

"Waaaaah! Erza, Natsu is being mean to me!"

"NO I WASN'T!" Natsu yelled, covering his head to defend from the oncoming attack.

"Yoink!"

"Gimme back my fish!"

"It's my fish now!"

"Alright, you can eat that fish, but let's head to the guild, I'm starving!"

"Aye sir! Maybe Luuuuucy will be there!"

OoOoO

Lucy woke up in a tangle of pillows and blankets, blinking blearily at her clock. Today was the day. The day that she'd…probably make a fool of herself in front of everyone. Lucy moaned and turned back over.

"Not yet…10 more minutes please."

OoOoO

"Good morning, Mira! Good morning…Loke? Cana?"

Erza stopped in her tracks, shocked by the appearance of Fairy Tail's two most nocturnal mages.

"Good morning!"

"Mornin!"

"Milady!"

After the greetings, Loke and Cana went back to their animated conversation, so Erza sidled over to talk to Mira at the other end of the bar.

"What's going on? Did I miss a summons? Why are Loke and Cana here so early?" Erza asked, baffled.

"Beats me." Mira smiled innocently. "Maybe something to do with last night's activity?"

Erza nodded thoughtfully. While she didn't like the idea of Cana starting her day's drinking earlier than normal, at least she had some company this time.

"What are they talking about?" Erza asked, lowering her voice.

"Erza! You really think that I'd eavesdrop on their conversation?" Mira pouted, defensively.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"OK. They are talking about all the things they hate about Magnolia's club scene. 30 minutes ago they were talking about this year's fashion trends, and an hour ago Loke was explaining why Lucy will never have a boyfriend."

"Wait, how long have they been in here?"

"Well," Mira looked up at the clock. "It's nearly 11, so I think that makes it about 3 hours."

"3 HOUrs" Erza started, before lowering her voice again. "Are they, an item?" Erza whispered the last two words.

"I don't know, maybe." Mira replied, frowning. She hated not knowing the precise relationship status of her guild members at any given time. "Anyway, how was your night?"

"Brutal." Erza sighed. "That challenge you and the Master laid out took me hours to solve, but I got there in the end."

"I think you maybe took it a little too seriously."

"Maybe." Erza admitted with a small smile. "Still, I need a little energy kick. Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, and Gray, are all in big trouble."

OoOoO

Gray shivered. He didn't shiver often as he rarely got cold, so it was always a bad omen when he did. He stopped walking, Fairy Tail was only about 100 metres away, was this a warning? He didn't need to see Juvia today, he could just come in tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. Maybe he could sneak in and take a week-long mission and everything would magically be back to normal by the time he returned…

Gray winced at his own cowardice. It was time to man up. It was time to go in there and sort this mess out. As soon as he ate lunch. Gray spun on his heel and stalked off in the opposite direction. What? He was hungry…

OoOoO

Gajeel chewed on his lunch, some scrap metal from the construction site he'd worked on that morning. He kicked open the guild doors and strode past the scared onlookers, taking his usual seat at a table in the corner.

"Oh, Gajeel!"

Levy bounced over, smiling widely.

"Last night was really fun, let's do it again sometime!"

An eavesdropping Wakaba was immediately incapacitated by a nosebleed.

"Keep your voice down, Squirt." Gajeel growled, although his tone lacked any of the venom he reserved for everyone else. "This place is really packed today for some reason."

"Everyone wants to see the results of the team building activity!" Levy laughed. "It's 2pm now, and most of the regulars turn up around 3, so people are trying to get good seats to watch the action."

"Hn. That explains why I didn't have to boot anyone out of my corner table."

"Yes, your precious sulking spot." Levy teased. "You should really migrate a little closer to the rest of us."

"Later." Gajeel muttered, evasively. "I just need to think for a bit, OK?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Levy replied, slightly taken aback. While Gajeel's dismissive tone would probably be deemed rude coming from most people, it was actually a step up from the usual slew of insults that normally followed a request to move closer to the others. Levy decided to leave him to it, wondering what was going through his head.

OoOoO

"Wow, this place filled up!" Loke said, swivelling on his seat at the bar. "I suppose it's too late for that nap."

"It's nearly 3!" Cana exclaimed, looking at the clock for the first time in a while. "We've been here for 7 hours! How am I not wasted?"

"You're still on your first barrel." Elfman observed, walking past. "I never thought I'd be saying this to you, but if you keep nursing your drink like that I'm going to have to ask you to give up your bar stool."

Loke tutted mockingly. "My how the mighty have fallen."

"Oh, please! I don't see you helping us keep our spots! So, tell me more about the dawn of humanity."

"Ugh, don't phrase my childhood like that, it makes me feel so old."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are ancient."

"Ah, but you're only as young as you feel." Loke replied knowingly.

"Mhmm, and how young did you feel this morning, old man?"

"Not very." Loke admitted with a smile. "But I've bounced back! Elfman! Two of your fruitiest, girliest drinks, for me and the pretty lady."

"That's not very man"-

"Shut up!"

OoOoO

"YOOOO! What's up, Fairy Tail?"

Natsu barged in with a huge smile on his face, shadowed as always by the flying cat, Happy.

A series of greetings were thrown around in a jumbled mess, although Natsu immediately noticed the lack of any insults. Gray was late.

"Where's Gray?" Natsu asked Levy, she normally knew these things.

"Hasn't shown up yet." Levy replied.

"Oh, where's Juvia?"

"Hasn't shown up yet."

"I see, I see. I don't really care or anything, but where's Lucy?"

Levy fought the urge to giggle. "Hasn't shown up yet, but don't worry!" She added, as Natsu looked slightly crestfallen.

"I'm not worried!" Natsu exclaimed quickly. "YO! Metal freak! I'm bored, fight me!"

"You're on, Salamander!" Gajeel chuckled, snapping out of his stupor.

"What, really?" Natsu replied, surprised.

"Yeah, really?" Levy echoed, edging away from the soon-to-be-battlefield.

"Why not?" Gajeel smiled evilly, cracking his knuckles.

"Alright! I'm all fired up!" Natsu roared.

OoOoO

Happy gently came to a rest, plopping down on the bar in front of Cana.

"Oh! Hello, Happy. I didn't see you come in. What are you doing here?"

"I'm delivering a message for Natsu!" Happy puffed out his chest proudly.

"Really." Loke deadpanned. "What does that dope want?"

"He wants to know where he can find some second-hand clothes for cheap, like the ones that Loke is wearing."

"HE SAID WHAT?" Loke jumped out of his chair and surveyed the guild, quickly locating the brawling Natsu and Gajeel. "Please excuse me for a moment." Loke bowed to Cana, before charging into the fray.

"Natsu didn't really say that, did he?" Cana questioned Happy.

"Nope! But now that we're alone, I believe we have some things to discuss." A dark shadow passed across Happy's grinning face.

"That we do." Cana smirked, her face also falling into the shadows.

OoOoO

Erza's sense of danger started going haywire, but she suppressed it, assuming that it had something to do with the fight going on right in front of her.

She'd resisted the urge to break it up immediately, it was a healthy way for the boys to blow off some steam after all, but after the addition of Loke things had gotten slightly out of hand.

CRUNCH

Erza got up, that was the third table destroyed; time to shut this party down.

"BOYS!"

The fight froze, Gajeel had a fistful of Natsu's hair, the other arm pulled back ready to strike. Natsu had Loke in a headlock, one knee raised, ready to kick Gajeel in the stomach. Loke had an arm snaked around Natsu's leg, preparing to trip him, his other shone with ring magic, directed at Gajeel. All three looked in Erza's direction, waiting for the lecture.

Erza opened her mouth to scold them, but found herself flashing back to the warm fuzzies.

'Scarlet, you're not so tough'

'I'm not scared of you!'

'Next time u see me, lets fite!'

Erza closed her mouth again and swallowed. How many times had she turned down these offers of friendship? The guild remained deathly quiet, preparing for the verbal onslaught.

"I'm not your mother, I'm your friend." Erza suddenly announced.

"Uhh, you don't say..." Loke muttered, still in a headlock.

"So?" Gajeel retorted, bluntly.

"So," Erza's stern face broke into a smile, "Room for one more?"

"AWWW HELL YEAH!" Natsu roared.

"Bring it on!" Gajeel sneered.

"I don't have a say in this, do I?" Loke asked from under Natsu's arm.

"ROAR OF THE"-

"Yeah, that's what I thought" sighed Loke, as all hell broke loose once again.

OoOoO

Juvia tentatively opened the doors of Fairy Tail and poked her head inside. She was supposed to be looking for Gray, but was immediately distracted by the pure carnage that was the centre of the main hall. Juvia shuffled in further and skirted along the boundaries, not wanting to draw attention to herself. As she got closer to the wreckage, she caught sight of her young friend, Wendy, healing somebody.

"Wendyyyy." Juvia whispered.

"Oh, Juvia! I was wondering when you"-

"Shhhh!" Juvia looked around nervously. "Is Gray here?"

"Not that I'm aware of." Wendy replied, craning her neck. "It's a good thing too, who knows how much worse the fight would have been."

It was at this point that Juvia realised who Wendy was healing; it was Nab.

"Nab joined in the fight?" Juvia asked, incredulously.

"Not quite." Wendy smiled. "It was more like, the fight joined him. Oh! I think the ringleaders are waking up!"

OoOoO

"Wakey wakey!" Mira sang.

"Uhhhh, my head." Loke mumbled. "What happened?"

"You got caught between a rock and a hard place." Mira explained.

"What?"

"Gajeel and Erza nearly destroyed the entire guild." Cana chipped in. She waved goodbye to Happy as the cat flew away from the bar.

"Ahh. What happened to Natsu?"

"He was KO'd by Erza."

Loke turned his head to look where Cana was looking. Erza was bowing and apologising to an unconscious Natsu, resting his head on her lap.

"She realised she got a bit carried away when she was the last one standing." Cana explained further.

"Oh? So where's Gajeel?"

OoOoO

Gajeel brushed off Levy's hands as she tried to patch up a cut above one of his eyes.

"Enough, Shrimp. I'll live."

Levy puffed her cheeks up in annoyance, but let him be. Gajeel jumped to his feet, quickly spotting his target.

"Scarlet!"

Gajeel stalked over to the red-headed mage and the unconscious dragon slayer.

Erza looked up from Natsu and gave Gajeel a blank look, not knowing what to expect from Fairy Tail's most volatile member.

Gajeel glared at Erza, his right fist clenching and unclenching as he struggled with something internally. After a minute, Erza spoke.

"What do you want, Gajeel?"

Gajeel winced, and seemed to be on the verge of backing away, when his eye began to sting. The wound still hadn't closed, a small trickle of blood was leaking down and blurring his vision. Gajeel touched his forehead and inspected the blood on his fingers. Finally, he looked back at Erza and bowed.

A collective gasp went around the guild as Gajeel held the deep bow, refusing to look up.

"Scarlet, help me become stronger. Help me protect…Fairy Tail."

"Sure." Erza didn't hesitate for even a second.

Gajeel slowly straightened up, a fleeting look of surprise crossed his features, but it was quickly buried beneath his usual neutral scowl. "Thank you."

Gajeel spun on his heels, but was stopped by a tug on his wrist, Erza had shot her hand out and stopped him. She gently placed Natsu's head on the ground and stood up, releasing Gajeel's arm.

"What did I just say? I'm your friend."

Erza put her hand out to shake as equals, and Gajeel took it, nodding silently. Erza crouched back down on the ground and went back to caring for Natsu, and Gajeel strode off without another word.

The silence that had gripped the guild during the confrontation was swept away by a wave of hushed whispers, the buzzing of conversation growing louder and louder as the moment faded.

"What was that abo- Hey!"

Gajeel walked up to Levy, grabbed her by the arm, and tugged her along after him, falling back into his position at the corner table. Levy sat in the seat next to him, waiting for an explanation.

After a stretch of silence, Gajeel coughed and motioned towards the open cut on his head.

"OH!" Levy quickly opened her first aid kit and went back to work.

"I don't like asking for help." Gajeel mumbled under his breath, looking away in embarrassment.

Levy giggled slightly and nodded, showing she understood what he meant.

OoOoO

Juvia waited patiently behind a wooden beam in the main hall. From her vantage point she was able to remain mostly invisible, but still have a good view of the entrance and the bar. It was perfect.

"Juuuuvia!"

Happy fell out of the sky and landed on her head.

"Shhh! Happy! Juvia is trying to hide!"

"Then it's perfect! No one can see me in your hair, I'm the master of camouflage!"

"Not even close!"

Juvia reached up and pulled Happy out of her hair as he attempted to burrow in further. She dangled him out at arm's length in front of her, waiting for an explanation.

"Aww, I thought you wanted my help." Happy mock-pouted.

Juvia jumped, remembering what she'd written last night.

"Oh! Juvia doesn't know what came over her when she wrote that! Juvia doesn't think she can go through with it, Happy!"

Happy shook his head, pityingly. "Don't back down! Erza is taken care of, but I still need an idea for Lucy. Help me, and Lucy will be out of the equation after tonight."

"Lucy…out of the equation…" Juvia struggled for a moment, clearly tempted by the idea. "OK! Let's do it!"

Happy smiled deviously. "Gooooood."

OoOoO

Lucy looked in the mirror for what felt like the hundredth time. She was desperately trying to look as beautiful as possible, without it being obvious that she was trying to do so. She'd spent the afternoon applying, removing, and re-applying makeup, trying to find the perfect balance of formal and casual. She'd gone through her entire wardrobe, trying to find something in between a ball gown and her pyjamas. And she'd worked Cancer to exhaustion, asking for "a new look, but not like 'wow, great new hair, Lucy!' Just like a 'oh, your hair looks nice today' kind of look."

She took a moment to glance nervously at the window. Usually if she was this late turning up to the guild, Natsu would have come and investigated by now. Of course, she'd respond with a kick to the face for breaking in, but right now that scenario was a lot better than confessing her feelings at Fairy Tail.

With one last look at her reflection, she sighed deeply and departed.

OoOoO

Gray opened the door to Fairy Tail in his usual relaxed manner. He strode confidently through the wreckage in the centre of the main hall and took a seat at the bar, keeping his eyes straight forward at all times. Anyone watching him would assume it was business as usual, but Gray was struggling to keep his heart rate down. He lowered his body temperature and took a deep breath, waving Mira over, knowing there was no turning back after that.

"GRAYYYYY! What took you so long?" Mira yelled, excitedly.

Gray forced a smile and cocked his head in rehearsed ignorance. "Hm? Oh, look at the time! I was just running some errands today."

"Nothing to do with the warm fuzzies, hmmm?" Mira asked slyly.

"The what? Oh, those. No, no. Just some shopping."

"Hmm." Mira nodded, smiling in a way that said 'I don't believe you at all'.

"J-just the usual, thanks." Gray coughed nervously, averting his eyes.

"Coming right up!" Mira skipped away without any further questions, prompting Gray to breathe a sigh of relief.

For the first time he surveyed the guild, taking in his surroundings. Erza was caring for an unconscious Natsu, and Gajeel was getting attended to by Levy in the corner. Several others were laid out on the ground and Wendy was scurrying between them using her healing magic. Down the bar, Cana and Loke were laughing, both seemed a lot happier than usual. Despite how many people were here, he couldn't find who he was looking for.

OoOoO

"It's a deal."

Happy and Juvia shook hand to paw, and Happy took off to begin preparations. Juvia smiled nervously, still conflicted about her decision, but already becoming excited about the outcome. She turned back around to wait for Gray.

"EHHHH!?"

Gray was already sitting at the bar, sipping on a drink, eyes glazed over.

Juvia started panicking, she wasn't ready for this. She took a couple of stumbling steps backwards and tripped over one of the destroyed chairs, landing with a thump.

"O-ow!"

"Juvia?"

Juvia went bright red as she looked up to see Gray staring at her from the bar.

"Ah! Sorry!"

"Don't apologise!"

"Sorry!"

Gray slapped his forehead, but couldn't contain a small smile.

"Come over here."

"Y-yes! Right away!" Juvia got up, but then tripped over the same chair going forwards. Eventually she stumbled over and collapsed onto the barstool next to Gray, her face bright red.

"Juvia."

"Yes, Gray?"

"We need to talk."

"I'm listening." Juvia urged, kindly. Gray studied her carefully, before sighing and jumping into his speech.

"I'm not dense. I understand that my face is easy on the eyes. I know that I've taken good care of my body. I am well aware that my aloofness is often seen as a cool quality. I accept that I'm braver than most. I concede that I'm someone that others look up to. And, even though I don't completely agree with your interpretation of events, I recognise that I had a hand in rescuing you from your old life. In summation, I understand how it's possible that someone would make the mistake of liking me, romantically."

Juvia attempted to interrupt, but Gray held up his hand, and continued on.

"What I don't understand, is why you obsess over me. Why you would put my life ahead of your own. Why you would wait forever for me, without any sign of hope. Please, why do you love me?"

Gray and Juvia sat staring at each other, the world around them dissolving into nothingness. Gray's face was set, determined. Juvia's was blank, giving away nothing.

After a few seconds, Juvia smiled, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What?" Gray asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

"Juvia thought Gray was going to ask something difficult."

Gray opened his mouth, but no words came out. Juvia giggled, and reached out to hold Gray's hand in her own.

"What are you"-

"Shhhh. It's Juvia's turn. Gray likes to analyse, Gray likes to compartmentalise, Gray likes to dissect every word, every action, every emotion, and study it with his cold logic. What Gray fails to understand, despite how wise he is, is that love is immune to rationality. Juvia doesn't love Gray for reason A or reason B, she loves Gray because she loves Gray."

"That doesn't make any sense! How do you know- OW! What was that for?"

Juvia had cut Gray off by flicking him on the forehead.

"Gray asked and so Gray will listen. Juvia had nothing, she was hollow. Now Juvia has something, and she will follow what her heart tells her. Juvia understands that people like to use their head in such matters, but Juvia does not. Juvia will not corrupt her love for Gray with doubt. Juvia has faith in her heart, Juvia has faith in Gray."

Juvia let go of Gray's hand and straightened back up on her stool, smiling peacefully. Gray stared at his empty hand in a daze, not saying anything as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"I'd be a terrible boyfriend, Juvia." Gray eventually blurted out. "I meant what I said yesterday, you deserve a lot better."

"Juvia doesn't deserve to be alive, no Phantom Lord mage that loses to an outsider in battle deserves to live on. That was the philosophy beaten into us since the very beginning. Life after defeat was something that neither Juvia nor Gajeel ever thought about. Juvia is very satisfied with how things have turned out."

Gray stared at Juvia, his dark eyes boring into her bright ones.

"OK."

"OK?"

"Let's…do this."

"Not good enough." Juvia sniffed.

"W-what?" Gray stammered, taken aback.

"Gray should not be doing Juvia a favour by asking her out, he should be doing it because he wants to."

"I do want to!"

"Then ask Juvia like you mean it." Despite her tone. Juvia couldn't stop her smile from growing as she scolded the poor boy, knowing the moment she'd dreamed of was about to occur.

"Oh, r-right! Of course! Juvia!" Gray straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath. "Would you like to"-

"YES!"

Juvia's eyes widened as she clamped her hands over her mouth, having jumped the gun slightly. Gray chuckled, but continued on anyway.

"Would you like to go on a date tomorrow night?"

"Yes!" Juvia squeaked from between her fingers.

Gray smiled for a moment before faltering a little.

"Er, what do I do now?"

"You could engage Juvia in a deep, romantic, kiss." Juvia suggested, slyly.

Gray nodded in understanding and leant forward, causing Juvia to blush, her eyes widening in surprise. Then, right before their lips made contact, Gray smiled. He stood up and quickly pecked her on the forehead instead.

"Maybe later." Gray winked and moved past her to attend to other business.

"H-hai." Juvia whispered breathlessly, collapsing onto the bar in an ecstasy coma.

OoOoO

"He actually did it." Loke murmured in disbelief, having watched the scene unfold from down the bar.

"Don't you owe me some money?" Cana asked.

"Nah, you have that bet with Levy. And it's about Natsu and Lucy. And you're betting Natsu won't ask Lucy."

"It was worth a shot." Cana shrugged.

"Why are you trying to fleece money out of me anyway? I'm already paying for all your drinks!" Loke rounded on her indignantly.

"Like a true gentleman!" Cana raised her glass. "Keep them coming!"

"What am I getting out of this anyway?" Loke whined playfully. "You're eating into my life savings!"

"If you haven't saved enough money after all these centuries, then I don't know what to tell you..." Cana replied dryly. "And I take offense to that, by the way! You're getting the pleasure of my company!"

"It's been a nice day." Loke admitted.

"You were very well-behaved." Cana complimented condescendingly. "You know, after all this talking, now would actually be an appropriate time for a pickup line."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not. You asked questions about me, you talked about yourself, you paid for my drinks, I think you'd be well within your rights to throw a cheeky line in. They can be charming or endearing, as long you don't open with them!"

"Well! Alright then!" Loke straightened up, rubbing his hands in anticipation. "Are you religious? Because you're the answer to all my prayers."

"Lame. Enough of this 'are you' stuff."

"Fine. I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together."

"Pass."

"Oh come on! That's top shelf!"

"No. No it isn't. At least I hope it isn't…"

"Ok, OK…" Loke turned away from Cana for a moment before turning back around, squinting his eyes. "Say…you look familiar. Didn't we take a class together?"

"Uh, no?"

"Are you sure? I could've sworn we had chemistry…"

Cana stared at Loke blankly, before conceding a smile. "Alright, that was clever, but still no points since I already know that you're so old that you predate the discovery of fire, let alone chemistry…"

"That's not fair!"

"Tough."

Loke pouted, drumming his fingers on the counter. "I'm pretty much out then, I only have one more and it's kind of lame."

"You think all those other ones weren't? Just say it!"

Loke shrugged. "Do you like my jacket?"

"Yes?" Cana answered hesitantly, unsure of how she was supposed to proceed.

"I do too. Do you know what it's made of?"

"Uhh, leather?"

"Nah, boyfriend material."

Cana snorted as Loke rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Alright." Cana sighed.

"Alright?"

"Yes. Let's go out sometime."

"What, on a date?" Loke spluttered.

"Yes of course on a date. You just told me you were boyfriend material didn't you?"

"Well, yes, but I'm way too old for you! I never thought you'd actually agree!"

"Too bad, I like you."

"Gildarts is going to kill me." Loke groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Maybe." Cana admitted. She swivelled on her stool to view the guild hall and smirked darkly. "Excellent, it's almost time."

OoOoO

Tired of sitting on the floor, Erza had propped Natsu into a chair, his body and face slumped forward on the table, still unconscious. Erza sat opposite him, awaiting her order.

"Erza!"

Cana ran over to the table with her deck of Tarot cards.

"I was doing some prediction work and my cards showed an incoming disturbance in the peace of the guild."

"They're a little late." Erza frowned, surveying the devastation around them from the fight.

"Er, a further disturbance." Cana bluffed.

"Not on my watch!" Erza yelled defiantly.

"Yes! I knew you would come to Fairy Tail's aid!" Cana clapped her hands. "Let me do another reading, it may help us prevent whatever is about to happen."

"Good idea!"

Cana pulled up a chair and began to deal cards.

OoOoO

Lucy peered into the guild. It was no surprise to her that the place was trashed, the rush hour had been a few hours ago after all.

"Lucyyy!"

Lucy was attacked by a flying hug from her friend, Levy.

"How come you came so late? Natsu was really worried about you!" She teased.

"S-stop!" Lucy put her hands over her cheeks as they had already turned a little pink. "He was not!"

"Wellllll, he was worried by Natsu-standards." Levy admitted. "You've really dolled yourself up today, what's the occasion?"

"H-have I? I didn't notice…" Lucy muttered tamely.

"Please. A guy may not notice, but you can't fool a sister!"

Lucy poked her tongue out in defiance, refusing to talk.

"Luuuuuucy!"

Happy plummeted from the ceiling, bouncing off Lucy's head.

"OWW! Happy! What was that for!?"

Happy picked himself up off the floor and inspected his paws.

"Lucy, you weirdo! What's wrong with your hair? It was too slippery for me to grab onto!"

"HA!" Levy taunted.

"NOTHING IS WRONG WITH MY HAIR!" Lucy argued putting a hand over Levy's mouth.

"Whatever, weirdo." Happy grunted, trying to rub the oil off his paws onto the floor.

"Oi! I'm supposed to be the one angry at you!" Lucy rounded on Happy. "You sent me a cold prickly!"

"Fish are delicious! Saying that I sent you a cold prickly is like you sending me a cold prickly…but with your words!"

"Sooo, like an insult?"

"YEAH! Take it back!"

"Fine, fine." Lucy rubbed her forehead, already too tired for Happy's antics. "Thank you, Happy, for your lovely warm fuzzy."

"You're welcome!" Happy smiled widely. "It's nice to see you here, Lucy. Don't go anywhere!"

"Uhhh, sure."

Happy continued smiling as he flew away, leaving Lucy thoroughly confused.

OoOoO

Cana flipped the first card over dramatically. "The Queen of Swords! This signifies"-

"Hold on!" Erza interrupted, "I thought the first card had to be from Major Arcana. Suit cards are from Minor Arcana."

"How did you- …never mind. This is a special reading so the normal rules don't apply." Cana lied.

"Ohhh, I'm sorry, continue."

"Thank you. The Queen of Swords signifies a woman who is complex, courageous, and intelligent. She is greatly concerned with small accuracies and attention to detail. This person has also overcome deep sorrow and adversity…who do you think it's talking about?" Cana prompted, obviously.

Erza's eyes were wide in shock. "Y-you don't think…the cards are suggesting…I'm involved?" She asked hesitantly.

"Erza, it's the Queen of Swords, who else do you think the cards could be talking about?" Cana whispered.

Erza gulped and leaned in closer. "What's the next card?"

Cana took a deep breath and flipped it over. "It's…the Wheel of Fortune!"

"That's great!" Erza cheered.

"Erza…the card is reversed." Cana spoke softly.

"S-so that means…?"

"Yes, this card means you're going to encounter unexpected bad luck."

"No!"

"I'm afraid so." Cana nodded sadly.

"This is terrible! You have to do something!" Erza demanded.

"I'm just dealing the cards!" Cana assured her. "There's still one to go, are you sure you want to see it?"

Erza swallowed nervously, and nodded. "For Fairy Tail."

"It's…the Ten of Cups! Wait, what? The Ten of Cups!? That wasn't supposed to- Uh I mean, wow! What a surprise!" Cana laughed nervously, luckily Erza hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, focused intently on the final card.

"What does the Ten of Cups mean?"

"Err, the Ten of Cups represents lasting happiness and security. A sign of true friendship and love between people. Also a peaceful and secure environment." Cana explained, annoyed.

"Oh! …That's good." Erza said hesitantly.

"Yes, it is." Cana confirmed, frowning.

"Bad luck that will bring happiness…how strange." Erza mused. "Well, thank you Cana, I'll let you get back to the bar."

"No problem." Cana waved lazily, berating herself internally. What the hell was that? I thought I rigged all three cards! I'm losing my touch…

OoOoO

"Hm? Wazzz goin on?" Natsu pulled himself up off the table slowly, trying to get his bearings.

"Oh! Natsu! You're awake." Erza smiled, breaking out of deep thought. "I'm so sorry about what happened earlier, I didn't expect to get so carried away."

Natsu frowned in concentration as the memories slowly ebbed back, but then broke into a wide smile. "See! I told you it was fun! Let's do it again sometime!"

"Y-yeah, maybe…" Erza replied, taken aback.

"Like right now!" Natsu yelled excitedly, punching his fists together.

"I think not. You should try and sit still for a little while and recover." Erza advised sternly.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Natsu agreed as he became dizzy and fell back down into his chair.

"Oi, Flame Brain, finally woke up huh? Man, how weak…"

Natsu's eyes flashed as Gray mocked him from across the room.

"I didn't see you getting your hands dirty! Hiding in the corner were you?" Natsu taunted back.

"How would you know? You were out after 10 seconds!"

"Was not, Pervert Stripper!"

"ICE MAKE"-

"ROAR OF THE"-

OoOoO

Lucy watched the fight break out with typical disinterest, although she was slightly intrigued by Erza merely sitting calmly as a bystander. What's more, Natsu was only a few metres away from her and he hadn't even noticed that she'd arrived! The nerve!

Lucy's outraged train of thought was interrupted, as was the fight, by an ominous creaking noise from above them. Everyone in the main hall looked up as the wooden ceiling moaned under an enormous weight.

"Y-your strawberry cheesecake, Erza." Mira muttered absent-mindedly, staring up at the ceiling in bewilderment.

"Thanks." Erza replied, taking the cake without looking at her.

It was at that moment that a single drop of water fell. The whole guild watched it splash harmlessly on Natsu's forehead.

"HEY!" Natsu spluttered, wiping the water off his face.

"What the…" Gray murmured.

"What has Juvia done?" Juvia whispered.

The wood finally gave in, splintering under the pressure. A crushing body of water hammered down over the occupants of the main hall, the only people spared from the full brunt of its force were those under the cover of the bar. As the final drops leaked down from the gigantic hole in the ceiling, the soaked mages slowly looked around in complete surprise.

"BRATS!"

Makarov was wringing the water out of his moustache, chest heaving as he took deep breaths.

"Who's responsible for this? Gajeel?"

"What? No!" Gajeel hurriedly distanced himself from Levy, who he'd shielded from the water.

"Very manly, Gajeel!" Elfman winked, giving him a thumbs up in approval.

"Oh shut up!"

"Natsu?" Makarov interjected.

"Like I'd get involved with water!" A completely dry Natsu yelled back, the liquid having already evaporated off his body.

"Erza?"

Erza didn't even bother responding, instead checking to see if the cake she'd covered was still ok.

"Happy?"

"…uhhh no?" Happy giggled from the safety of the bar area.

"I know it was you!" Makarov yelled.

"Aye!"

"TOO EASY!" Lucy exclaimed.

"The question is, who helped you...?" Makarov mused.

"No one did! It was all me!" Happy boasted proudly.

"Ehh? Really? Usually at this point you say that Lucy told you to do it." Makarov deadpanned.

"Lucy's not the boss of me!"

"I don't even know how to react to that…" Lucy sighed.

"Well…If you're sure…Happy! Bad! You're on bar duty for a week!"

"Awww."

"As for the rest of you! What the hell is going on in here? I knew last night's activity wasn't going to work miracles, but I didn't expect things to get worse! Erza, I'm disappointed in you most of all!"

A lot of the guild members hung their heads in shame, but Erza met Makarov's gaze evenly and stepped forward.

"Master, I've been doing some thinking, and I ask that you allow me to share these thoughts uninterrupted."

Makarov nodded silently, giving Erza the floor.

"The original complaint was absolutely right. We are unprofessional when we work, Fairy Tail is full of monsters. We are chaotic, wild, uncontrollable, and a constant embarrassment to the council. But, this is our home. These walls are our sanctuary from the rest of the world that would seek to destroy us, or worse, normalise us. In here, we are free.

I take my responsibility as a leader of this guild very seriously, maybe too seriously. Instead of acting as a policeman, maybe I should have been acting as a moderator. I've tried to set a good example in the way that I present myself, and go about my business. But I've made an error in policing my example and forcing them on others. A true leader doesn't stand ahead of the pack, they stand with them. Maybe if I spent more time standing with my friends, rather than opposite them, well, I might have more.

Master, I take responsibility for Fairy Tail's conduct outside of the guild, on account of the restrictions I've put in place inside of it. Fiore is not an escape from Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail is an escape from Fiore…somewhere along the way I forgot that. Forgive me."

Silence hung over the guild, only interrupted by the intermittent splashing of tiny droplets. Makarov opened his mouth to speak, but was beaten to it by Cana.

"There's nothing to forgive, because it's not your fault. You are the shining light of the guild, the only wizard here who brings Fairy Tail praise from the council. If more of us actually took the time to listen to what you have to say, and follow your example, you wouldn't have to come down on us so hard. Forgive us."

"Cana's right." Gray jumped in. "If Natsu wasn't such an idiot then we wouldn't have this problem."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT SHE SAID!"

"How would you know? You zoned out as soon as Erza started talking!"

"You're pretty bad as well, Gray." Loke laughed from the bar.

"At least I don't flirt with drunks!" Gray retorted.

"HEY!" Cana and Loke yelled at the same time.

"Now, now. Let's everyone calm down." Erza called out peacefully. As she said this, she went to scoop a chunk of cake with her spoon, but upon contact it exploded, splattering cake all over her, Lucy, and Natsu.

A few people laughed but they were immediately stifled as a dangerous aura emanated from Erza.

"The cards…they warned me…and I still fell for this trap. This is my loss." Erza hung her head in defeat.

"Told you." Cana whispered to Happy, smugly.

"This isn't happening." Lucy grumbled, wiping cake off of her face.

"Oh! Lucy! When did you get here?" Natsu smiled brightly. "And why do you smell funny? I don't recognise your scent."

"HA!" Levy called out from across the room.

"Nothing is different!"

"Whatever, weirdo. Oh! There's something I wanted to ask you"-

Natsu couldn't finish his sentence as he was poleaxed by a flying Elfman.

Gajeel snickered, shaking out his fist. "Ready for round two?" He looked between Erza and Natsu.

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu yelled, although he was trapped under an unconscious Elfman.

"Master?" Erza asked politely.

"You made a good point, Erza. If they can get it out of their systems in here, then there's less chance of it happening out there. I'll allow it." Makarov nodded.

"Thank you. Although I was actually asking if you wanted to join in too. You need to blow off more steam than any of us."

Makarov's eyes twinkled as a wide smile grew across his face. "Well then, don't mind if I do."

"YEAHHH!" Natsu roared, still stuck under Elfman. "Lucy, Juvia, you joining?"

Lucy took a deep breath to yell at Natsu for being an idiot, but then she caught a glimpse of Happy laughing at her from the bar. "Yes. Yes I will."

"Ehh!?" Happy jumped. "Lucy is scaryyyy!"

"Just this once, you're right." Lucy smirked, spinning a key between her fingers.

"You want Juvia to join too?" Juvia asked, surprised.

"Of course!" Natsu smiled. "It can't get any wetter in here!"

Juvia returned the smile, and skipped over to stand by Gray's side.

"Combination attack, Gray?"

Gray looked down at her fondly. "My favourite."

"Let's do this!" Gajeel smirked, blocking Levy's attempts at leaving. "Last man standing is a coward!"

"Or woman." Erza added.

There was a blinding explosion of magic as the elements crashed against each other. Laughter over the grinding of steel and the thudding of fists echoed through Fairy Tail as the friends exchanged insults and blows.

OoOoO

"I'm finished!" Happy heaved a tired sigh and flopped back onto the bar counter next to Cana.

"Get back in there, lazy!" Cana scolded between sips.

"You get back in there!" Happy replied, rolling over onto his back.

Both watched as the guild brawl continued on, dance partners switching frequently. After a minute, Cana turned back to Happy.

"Thanks for not ratting me out. Or Juvia. I was surprised actually, it seemed to me that you were setting up Juvia to take the fall."

Happy frowned slightly. "I wouldn't do that! We're frie"-

Happy's eyes widened slightly and his gaze became unfocused as he cut himself off.

"Er, Happy?" Cana snapped her fingers in front of his line of sight.

"Huh? Oh. N-nothing."

Cana smirked slightly. "Oooh, are we friends too?"

"NO!"

"You're getting soft." Cana teased, poking Happy's stomach. Happy giggled but said nothing, blushing slightly. Cana smiled earnestly and leaned in. "You're a friend to me."

Happy stared wide-eyed at her as she patted him on the head and left the bar, shuffling her deck of cards while walking into the fray.

OoOoO

Lucy jumped, ducked, twisted, and turned. Ever since Happy had disappeared she'd lost a sense of focus, and now found herself just trying to defend. Attacks kept coming in from all directions, beginning to overwhelm her. A fast beam of light shot along the ground, forcing Lucy to jump into the air. Suddenly, a stray jet of boiling hot water flew through the mist, on a collision course with her face. Lucy closed her eyes and braced for impact, unable to dodge in mid-air. The next thing she knew she was hot, but there was no water. She opened her eyes to find herself in Natsu's arms, he'd plucked her out of the air and they'd landed outside of the melee.

"Er, hi." she said lamely.

"Hi!" Natsu responded enthusiastically. "I never finished what I was going to ask you before!"

"Oh…ok." Lucy responded faintly, turning red. She couldn't go through with it. It would be life changing. Relationship changing. Things would never be the same after she said those words. She should re-assess, go away and think about it some more. You couldn't rush into something of this magnitude.

"Lucy, do you wanna become a couple?"

"WHAT!?" Lucy immediately floundered in shock, causing Natsu to drop her on the ground.

"W-what? Did I say something wrong?" Natsu gulped, immediately regretting his decision. He just wasn't cut out for this stuff.

"You- you, you can't just, just, blurt it out. Where? When? Why? …WHY!?"

Natsu cocked his head in confusion, frowning in thought. "How else was I supposed to ask you? You're not making any sense!"

Lucy just stared at Natsu in complete shock. "Natsu! Look at me! I'm soaking wet! I'm covered in cake! My clothes are torn from the fight! Why now? Why me?"

Natsu shrugged, and collapsed on the floor cross-legged next to Lucy. "I didn't want to waste another minute. I read what you wrote to me…and I hope you read what I wrote to you… and anyway, the cake is an improvement." Natsu laughed as he said the last part, causing Lucy to start spluttering again. He went to scoop some icing off of her face but she grabbed his hand with both of hers right before he made contact. Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"I'm warning you, Lucy, don't come between me and food."

"Don't eat cake off of my face!"

"Watch me!"

The pair struggled back and forward, laughing, before Natsu finally leaned down and licked some cake off her cheek.

"EEEWWWW!"

"HAHAH I licked your face!"

"I KNOW!"

"Get a room you two." Gray sneered.

Lucy squeaked in embarrassment as the pair looked up to see the whole guild watching them.

"It's not what it looks like!" Lucy yelled, still trapped on the floor underneath Natsu.

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed. "I was only asking Lucy if she wanted to be my girlfriend!"

Lucy buried her face in her hands, going even redder. But, instead of laughter or snide remarks, Natsu's announcement was met with resounding applause.

"FINALLY!"

"Go Natsu!"

"Congratulations Lucy!"

Lucy spread her fingers, peeking through them to see the guild go seamlessly from fighting to celebrating.

"Drinks are on me!" Makarov roared over the commotion.

Lucy's gaze wavered back over to the man sitting next to her. He too was looking around the guild, his face glowing, punctuated as always by a wide smile. After a couple of seconds he blinked, and turned back to face Lucy, and his wide smile turned into an embarrassed one.

"So…?"

"Why did I think the world would end if we became a couple?" Lucy asked, half laughing half sighing.

"Because you worry too much."

"Too carefree!"

"I guess we're a pretty good team then, huh?" Natsu grinned cheekily.

Lucy couldn't contain a smile of her own, as was always the case around Natsu. She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I guess we are."

Finished! Thank you all for reading! If you enjoyed this, maybe you'd like my previous two stories, Density, and The Taste of Fire.

I got a lot of support along the way, so thank you to everyone who favourited, followed, or reviewed, or even messaged me to say how much they were enjoying the story. I can honestly say I wasn't expecting such a positive response.

As for the future, after much thought I've decided to take a break from fanfiction. I want to do my next story properly, and for that to happen I need a long hiatus. SO! With no set release date, I give you:

Detective Erza Scarlet, and her rookie assistant Natsu Dragneel, are assigned to a murder investigation that spirals out of control. With her career on the line, can Erza bring the serial killer, Jack the Ripper, to justice?