The public was becoming huger and huger. Erza joined the Ice Dragons, leaving the other presidents (after thanking them again for giving her her afternoon). They saw the head of the academy, Mavis Vermilion, and all the head teachers of the academy who were ready to go on stage. Erza greeted them. She knew they had planned to do something for the closing concert, but she had no clue what it was.
The heads went on stage and they greeted the public. Makarov then spoke.
"Brats, prepare yourselves to be surprised! Ice Dragons is nothing compared to what you are going to see!"
What was that? Makarov could say that, but a head teachers' show could only be boring...
The public frowned and set about chattering while the head teachers set up, mike on hand. Makarov made a sign to the musicians to tell them that they could start playing. Suddenly, the first notes of Bastard song by Skip The Use made themselves heard.
'Bastard song?!' They all thought or said.
Makarov set about singing, followed by Mavis, then Hades (the head of Fairy University).
The public stood gaping. Everybody had their jaws agape, which threatened to touch the ground and their eyes were wide open like saucers. Surprised? They were all but just surprised. They were shocked, yeah! Even the so distinguished presidents of the student councils (yes, even Laxus and Jenny were considered so) couldn't get over it (and that's putting it mildly).
"Gramps..." said Laxus.
The most surprising was that even Hilda from Fairy elementary got caught up in the game (well, Hades was also a surprise).
It was during Ichiya's turn (the head of Fairy Junior High) when the public started coming back to life, little by little, and started moving at the rhythm of the music.
The heads of the academy were flat out to it, forgetting their statuses.
When the song finally ended, the public asked for more but Makarov made a sign with his hand to calm them down.
"Well, the show is over for us, but now, make way for the young! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Ice Dragons!"
"What?!"Gray yelled.
"Oh, didn't I tell you?" said Sting. "We are to perform for the closing concert,"
"You serious?! Nobody told me! I don't agree with that! Besides, what would you have done if I didn't come?"
"Don't make a big deal out of it." Grumbled Gajeel. "Anyway, it's too late now,"
"Let me guess, Gajeel; you didn't want to perform either, did you?"
"Duh!" mumbled the drummer.
"Anyway, don't make the public wait longer," said Loke, heading toward the stage.
On their way to the stage, Gray finally noticed the other bands that were there, like Quatro Cerberus and many others.
They performed several songs and left the stage to the girls' utter despair and joined Erza. The bands and the singers came one after another and the public was on fire. The closing concert was another reason for the huge crowd during the last day of the festival, thanks to the worldwide known artists, but the visitors had not expected the artists to really come (it was just a school festival, after all).
The members of Quatro Cerberus joined them and the Ice Dragons were surprised to see that Erza and Bacchus Groh, the leader of the band, knew each other (even very well).
"Bacchus went to Fairy Academy before creating Quatro Cerberus," explained the president.
"Yeah, and we used to date each other sometimes," said Bacchus.
"We didn't," Erza corrected, hitting him on the head.
"Yeah, yeah, we didn't..." admitted the leader of Quatro Cerberus, "You just liked being with me and always checked me ou-..."
She hit him again.
"This idiot used to break the rules and I had to keep an eye on him,"
"… So you hit me..."
"It was the only way for you to listen to me. Although you never really listened to me..."
"I did. You were the only one who was able to fight me so you were interesting,"
Erza blushed slightly.
"Anyway, I'm glad to see you again, Erza~chan," said Bacchus, his arm around Erza's neck.
She hit him a third time.
"Don't call me that!"
"As serious as ever..." Bacchus complained, rubbing where she had hit him.
.
After two hours of concert, the time for the fireworks finally came. The Ice Dragons and the red head left Bacchus and his band to join Erza's friends.
This time, Juvia noticed Gray and stayed stuck to him while some fans had rushed toward the other members of the Ice Dragons. The girls (minus Juvia) then sat on the grass and Erza enjoyed her friends' presences. Lucy suddenly wanted a cotton candy and left to buy one with Levy, while Cana left to buy something to drink, leaving Mirajane and Erza alone.
"So, Erza, are you eased that the festival is ending?" asked the white-haired girl.
Erza smiled.
"Yes I am. It's the best moment of the year but probably the worst as a member of the student council."
"But you could enjoy the festival, in the end,"
"Yes. Maybe this whole week running everywhere was worth the effort,"
"Thanks to Gray," said Mirajane, smirking.
Erza stared at her, not understanding.
"Well, yes. I had a lot of fun thanks to him,"
"Is that all?"
Erza understood where her friend was getting at.
"And you with Freed? You seemed pretty close every time I saw you together,"
Mirajane blushed.
"He... likes my company..."
Erza smirked in turn. "Oh? Is that all?"
They chuckled. The biter bit...
Mira suddenly spotted a shape which was approaching them. She recognised who it was and said to Erza that she needed to go to the toilets, leaving them alone.
The owner of the figure sat down next to the president of the student council. She thought it was Cana because she stayed silent (Cana must have been too busy drinking to say anything). Erza lay down on the grass and finally noticed who was next to her. Raven short hair; it was surely not her friend.
Gray lay down in turn and they stared at the stars.
"Did you manage to dodge Juvia and your fans?" she asked him.
"I left them to the guys. As for Juvia, Lyon came to pick her up."
He turned his head toward her. She was still staring at the sky and didn't notice that he was looking at her.
"Have you known him for a long time?"
"Who?"
"Lyon,"
She turned her head toward him and they ended up a few centimetres from each other. Both of them blushed but it was too dark for it to be visible.
Erza focused on the stars again.
"I've only known him since last year. He had just arrived for his last year at Fairy High and, like for all the new students, I showed him around the school,"
'So she has also forgotten him... Or else, she didn't recognise him,' thought Gray, eased. Lyon didn't mean more than him to her.
But it was normal that she had not recognised him. Not only did he have bleached hair, but in addition to that, he had taken their mother's name back after their dad's death.
Gray smiled, satisfied with her answer, when all of a sudden, she turned her head toward him once again.
"Why? Do you think you know him?" she asked him.
'Shit!'
"Well, as you said that his mother is a painter, I thought that maybe I had already met him at an exhibition or something like that..."
"Yeah, it's likely that..."
They stared at the stars in silence. They felt good, just the two of them, like when they were young. Then, Erza turned toward Gray and told him, smiling, "Thanks for this afternoon,"
He was surprised that she had suddenly thanked him, much more because he was the one who wanted to thank her. He smiled back at her, like to tell her he had enjoyed this afternoon very much.
"You're welcome." He stared into her eyes a few seconds and then, he added, "But you owe me a day,"
"What?" She asked, slightly frowning.
He laughed. "For the cake."
She raised a brow, still not understanding what he meant.
"I gave you the cake I won, so in exchange, you owe me a whole day."
"A whole day? You didn't say anything about something like that when you gave it to me,"
"Didn't I? Then I should have done so," He looked at the sky, smiling. At least, he had tried.
"Alright,"
He suddenly turned his head toward her, almost breaking a cervical of his.
"You sure?"
"You gave the cake to me, it's normal I give you something in return, as thanks and because of friendship. Short reckonings make long friends," She said with a smile.
He smiled back at her but didn't have time to respond to her because the fireworks started rising in the sky.
Gray had waited for this day for years and had endured the worst week of his life, but in the end, it had been worthwhile...