"Amazing! This will be fun!" Lucy said smiling.
"Isn't this exciting Charles?" Wendy said excitedly.
"Alright boys and girls, the real party begins now!" Erza said smirking.
"OH YEAH!" everybody said together.
"So who all will dance? There needs to be 7 males and 7 females" Levy said.
"Okay from the guys, it can be Natsu, Gray, Sting, Rogue, Gajeel, Hibiki and Lyon." Erza said thoughtfully.
"What? Who said I was going to dance?" Gajeel said frowning.
"To be honest even I'm not interested..." Rogue started.
"I don't wanna! ~" Natsu said lazily.
"I didn't ask you guys, it's an order." Erza said glaring at the guys. Everyone sweat dropped.
"Erza..." Lucy started.
"She's too strict!" Sherry said.
"From the girls it can be me, Juvia, Mira, Levy, Milliana and Sherry if they don't mind and also Lu-"
"Me too!" Lucy shouted excitedly.
"Oh Blondie! If you really wanted to dance with me so badly why didn't you request to me earlier?" Sting flirted with Lucy.
"You wish!" Lucy said blushing a little.
"Sure why not, this will be fun!" Mira said smiling.
"Juvia is alright if Gray-sama is there!" Juvia said with hearts in her eyes.
"And I am alright as long as Juvia-chan is there!" Lyon said to Juvia.
"These two are gonna drive me nuts some day..." Gray said sighing.
"That is for love! ~" Sherry said.
"Yay everybody's gonna dance!" Milliana yelled childishly.
"She asked the girls for permission but not the guys..." Sting said sweat dropping.
"That's Erza for ya!" Happy said flying around.
"Dancing is manly!" Elfman yelled.
"You aren't dancing you know…" Natsu said to Elfman.
"I've already got the spell I'm starting all right?" Yuki said as she unstrapped her heels.
"Wait! We haven't even taken our positions!" Levy said panicking a bit.
"Alright I'm waiting" Yuki said as she sat on the grass.
"Okay everyone take your positions!" Erza said by clapping and attracting attention.
All of them made a circle around the tree. Each girl held a long ribbon with them.
They stood in this order- Lucy-Erza-Milliana-Juvia-Sherry-Mira-Levy-
Order Starting from Lucy-Natsu-Gray-Sting-Lyon-Hibiki-Rogue-Gajeel-
"Ok, I'm starting now." Yuki said. She sat crossed legged and placed her hands in a meditating position. She closed her eyes and started mumbling some words which even the dragon slayers couldn't pick up. As soon as she started chanting, her body started emitting dim golden light. The music started and the couples started dancing.
"Ouch! Natsu! Stop stepping on my foot!" Lucy yelled loudly which earned laughs from the other guys.
"My bad, sorry Lucy!" Natsu said laughing nervously.
"Not bad Gray you dance well!" Erza said.
"T-thanks Erza!" Gray stuttered.
"However, you should relax your shoulder blades a little." Erza said.
"Okay..." Gray replied looking around.
"Stop looking here and there."
"What?"
"Look at me."
"Uh why are you lecturing me so much?"
"Dance is an art form. You must master it!"
"O-Okay..."
There was silence between them.
"You look a little lost. Is everything okay?" finally Erza broke the silence.
"No, it's nothing." Gray said looking back at her.
He was looking at Lucy at the corner of his eyes, who was continuously scolding Natsu to dance properly.
"I-I couldn't convey my thanks to you for bringing Lector to me...so t-thanks..." Sting said awkwardly.
"It's alright nyaa! Lector is so cute, nya!" Milliana said smiling.
"Do you like cats so much?" Sting asked sweat dropping.
"Yup nyaa!" Milliana yelled childishly.
"What a weirdo..." Sting mumbled to himself. He titled his head to the left and found Erza glaring at him. Sting started sweating pools of water.
"W-why is Titania glaring at me...did she hear what I said!?" Sting thought to himself as her turned his head back to Milliana.
"Poor guy..." Gray thought sweat dropping at Erza's glares to Sting. Kagura watched Erza dance and glare at Sting.
"She'll never change..." Kagura chuckled.
Rufus walked up to her and stretched out his hand.
"Shall we dance?" Rufus asked her politely.
After thinking for a moment, Kagura took his hand and replied, "Sure."
"May I have this dance, Wendy?" Romeo said as he mimicked Rufus's actions.
"I'd love to, Romeo-san!" Wendy said cheerfully.
Charles watched Wendy and Romeo going hand in hand under the Sola tree where everybody was dancing.
"Shall we dance?"
Charles turned behind to see Lector smiling and stretching out his paw. Before Charles could reply, Happy barged in.
"We can't let a saber guy take away Charles!" Happy said as he pulled Charles behind him.
"What's your problem, you stupid blue cat?" Lector said glaring at Happy.
"We are fellow exceeds, so we should get along!" Lily said sternly.
"You don't need to lecture me you muscle freak cat!" Lector yelled.
An angry sign appeared on Lily's head. "You shut up! Who do you think you are calling a muscle freak cat!?" Lily yelled back.
"Stop it you guys!" Charles shouted at them.
"I asked her first so you guys back off!" Lector said.
"Stay away from her! She doesn't want to dance with the likes of you!" Happy shouted.
"Yeah! Let Charles decide about it! Don't you agree with us Charles?" Lily said as he turned back.
Their jaw dropped when they saw Charles dancing with Frosch.
"Ugh guys, I will never understand them!" Charles said.
"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch said cheerfully.
"A man likes dancing!" Elfman yelled.
"If you like dancing then why don't you dance instead of yelling!?" Evergreen snapped.
"Yes, I am a man so I will dance!"
"Then ask me to dance, if you are a man!"
"Yes! A man will ask a lady to dance!"
"Fine, if you are insisting so much then I'll dance with you."
"Good!"
"Elfman-niichan…" Lisanna said sweat dropping.
"Juvia, your eyes are so beautiful just like the deep blue ocean!"Lyon said while dancing with Juvia.
"Huh?"
"If I look in your eyes for a long time, then I might drown!"
"If that's so, then please don't look in Juvia's eyes…"
"I don't care; I don't care even if I drown! I can't take my eyes away from yours!"
"Eh?"
"That is for the sake of LOVE!" Sherry said while dancing with Hibiki.
"Geez, why does Lyon like Juvia so much?" Chelia mumbled pouting.
"May I have this dance?" Eve asked stretching his hand.
"I'd love to!" Chelia said smiling and grabbing Eve's hand.
"Hello Rogue-kun. How are you doing?" Mira said smiling.
"I'm doing good thank you very much. What about you?" Rogue replied formally his face yet expression void.
"Very good thank you!" Mira replied smiling.
"I didn't know that Rogue is formal, unlike Gajeel..." Levy said mumbling the last two words.
"He's a weird guy! He has no expressions." Gajeel said looking at Rogue.
"I wonder why..." Levy said.
"So Rogue, why are you so silent and expressionless?" Mira asked.
"She asked him directly!" Levy said.
"Because I am a shadow." Rogue replied after a moment still expressionless. There was silence.
"I see!" Mira replied smiling.
"That's not a valid reason, don't believe that!" Levy and Gajeel yelled together as their eyes popped out.
All the girls twirled around and grabbed the hand of their partner in anticlockwise direction.
"Yo Erza!" Natsu said grinning widely.
"Yes Natsu…your dancing has certainly improved…just one thing…will you PLEASE TRY NOT TO STEP ON MY FOOT!?" Erza yelled the last words at the top of her voice which made others cringe in fear.
"S-S-Sorry Madam E-E-Erza!" Natsu stammered.
"Even Natsu-san is afraid of Titania…then she is definitely a scary person…I'd better be aware when I'm around that scarlet haired lady…" Sting gulped and thought to himself.
"Hey you…" Lyon said.
"Hey I'm talking to you, white dragon slayer!" Lyon said after Sting didn't reply.
"What do you want from me?" Sting grunted.
"Don't try any tricks with my Juvia-chan alright! I have my eyes on you!" Lyon yelled.
"Erm…you see I'm not really interested…" Sting said sweat dropping.
"SHUT UP!" Lyon yelled again.
"Ehhh?!" Sting yelled in surprise.
"Lyon-sama, please calm down!" Juvia said sweat dropping.
"Oh don't worry little dragon slayer! Lyon-sama is doing this for the sake of LOVE~!" Sherry said.
Others were all dancing silently. Muffled voices could only be heard and music. Yuki still had her eyes shut and was intensely concentrating.
"S-So Rogue, are you always like this?" Levy asked breaking the silence.
"Like how?" he asked without thinking.
"You know, silent and without expressions…" Levy said.
"Yeah mostly. It had never bothered anybody anyway." Rogue replied.
"Oh…I see…" Levy muttered.
"Are you bothered by it?" Rogue asked after long silence.
"Well…to some extent…yes. One shouldn't lock oneself up. You should be more open to everyone. That's how you make friends and you can enjoy life." Levy said smiling. Rogue smiled slightly and nodded.
"Do you like Gajeel?" Rogue whispered after moments of silence.
"Huh?"
"Do you like Gajeel?"Rogue asked raising his voice a bit.
"Wha-what's with this out of the blue q-question?" Levy yelled blushing. She mentally cursed herself for stuttering. Rogue chuckled at her reaction.
"Wha-what's so funny?" Levy asked blushing shades of red.
"Nothing." He simply replied. He turned his head to see Gajeel who was busy pestering Lucy to pay heed to their little conversation.
"Yo bunny girl! You don't dance too bad shooby doo bop!"Gajeel said.
"Erm…bunny girl…?" Lucy mumbled looking away.
Once again the girl twirled and grabbed the hands of their next partner.
"Yes! Juvia is finally re-united with my Gray-sama!" Juvia thought to herself. She had a silly grin on her face.
"Why are you grinning like that Juvia?"
"Juvia is just happy to be with Gray-sama!"
"That's great" Gray said grinning.
"Hello Hibiki. I have heard lots about you from Lu-chan!" Levy said smiling.
"Yes Levy, I have heard a lot about your skills too!" Hibiki said smiling back.
They got engaged in some conversation about some scripts and magic types. Lucy looked at Levy and smiled. She looked back and was a little surprised to see Rogue's red eyes staring into her brown eyes.
"I-Is something wrong?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure…"
"How is it that you are able to smile when you're hurt? Doesn't it hurt you when others laugh at you? During the games, Minerva humiliated you, still you forgave her. How can you be so kind?"
"Well, I don't care even if someone hurts me or laughs at me as long as I have my friends with me…I've learnt that keeping grudges against anyone will get you nowhere. What is the use for me to hold a grudge against Minerva? I'm sure she was acting under the pressure. Everyone has a reason for their actions. And besides, it was my mistake. I was weak…"
"You're not weak. Someone as kind as you cannot be weak."
Lucy's eyes widened as she tried to process what he said. He called her kind. She smiled brightly as she tightened her grip on his shoulder.
"Thank you…Rogue,"
To her surprise, he broke into the warmest smile she had ever seen. Gajeel grinned as he overheard their conversation and saw Rogue smiling.
"Do you know that you look pathetic with that silly grin?" Erza said softly.
"Sh-Shut up!"
"Take this as a life lesson, over hearing other's conversations isn't good," Erza said.
"You also overheard!" Gajeel yelled.
As the girls turned, the ribbons were wrapping around the tree.
"I can feel immense pressure from the ground, but I don't know what it is…" Lucy said thoughtfully to Hibiki.
"The process is completing slowly. Miss Yuki is focusing the powers of the tree. The soil of this ground is collecting the powers as she is chanting the spell."
"The light that Yuki is emitting is growing brighter! I can't see her for more than a minute!"
"She is becoming one with the tree that's why…"
"I wonder what is going to happen!" Lucy said excitedly.
"Let's dance to find out!" Hibiki smiled.
"Yeah!"
"Ah Rogue! Your skills were indeed impressive during the games! You just need a little polishing! Some of your moves weren't as smooth. Are you training for that?" Erza said sounding like a teacher.
"What are you my mentor now?" Rogue asked sweat dropping.
The girls took their 5th turn. They had to turn around the tree 7 times and in the process changing their partners 7 times.
"Look at Yuki-san!" Wendy said looking at Yuki while dancing with Eve.
"Wow, so pretty! She's glowing!" Chelia said looking at Yuki with awe while dancing with Romeo.
"It means that the process is almost complete." Rufus said smirking as he was dancing with Cana.
"Not bad drunk girl!" Cana said her voice cracking a bit.
An angry vein appeared on Yuki's head as she narrowed her eye brows to concentrate.
"You know you're the one who's drunk right...?"Elfman said sweating dropping at Cana's comment.
"Hey Lector, what do you think with happen after the dance?" Frosch asked.
"We are dancing in order to find out Frosch!" Lector yelled.
"I think there is going to be a flood of fish!" Happy said drooling over the idea.
"Fro thinks so too!"
"Really now…" Charles said sweat dropping.
"No comment…" Lily said sweat dropping.
The girls took their 6th turn and the light Yuki was emitting was brighter than ever.
"Aren't you the guy who kept saying 'Gajeel', 'Gajeel' all the time?" Juvia said with a straight face.
"Juvia doesn't know what relation Rogue has with Gajeel-kun, just stay away from my Gray-sama," Juvia said with glaring at Rogue.
"What the hell are your thoughts…?" Rogue mumbled to himself sweat dropping.
"Hey blondie, looking gorgeous today!" Sting said smirking.
"Thanks," Lucy replied simply.
"Can I ask you one question?" Sting asked seriously.
"Erm…seems like the Saber tooth mages have come in here with lots of questions…" Lucy mumbled to herself.
"What? Did Rogue ask you something?"
"No, nothing at all. Go on, what do you want to ask?"
"What do you think of our guild Saber tooth? Have you forgiven us so easily for what we did during the games?"
Lucy took a moment to think. Gray, Natsu, Levy and Mira looked at Lucy worriedly who was deep in thoughts. "What does he mean by 'what do you think'?" Lucy thought to herself.
"Nothing precisely. I know that you all have turned to a new leaf. I think that's wonderful," Lucy said smiling.
"And the other question…?" Sting started.
"Well, you told me to want to answer me one question. You asked me two! Actually three!" Lucy said smirking.
"Just answer it…" Sting said softly.
"Yes, I have forgiven everyone. If you all can change for the better, then even I can forget the humiliation." Lucy smiled once again which made Sting blush. He didn't talk any further and just nodded at her response. The others simply smiled at her response. "Typical Lucy" they thought to themselves.
After dancing for some time, the girls turned again. The 7th turn, the last turn.
"Hi Lucy," Gray stated
"Hey Gray, what's up? This is the last round!" Lucy said smiling.
"Yeah…" Gray said looking up at the sky. Lucy copied his actions and looked up. The night sky was cloudy. Thankfully it wasn't snowing. Lucy looked back at Gray and found him staring at her. He chuckled as Lucy blushed. There was comfortable silence except the music. Lucy looked to her left and saw Erza and Sting having an argument and to the right she saw Levy smiling while dancing with Natsu.
"Lucy…" Gray whispered.
"Yes?" Lucy looked at Gray.
"You look…really beautiful today," Gray said looking into her brown eyes and gave her a genuine smile.
Lucy smiled slightly but was puzzled. His eyes gave her some sort of a message, but she couldn't figure out what. Before she could reply, the tree started glowing and so did Yuki. Everyone went close to the tree and tied the ends of the long ribbons in a bow to the tree.
"Oh great Sola tree, you have been providing your shade, air and protection to the civilians of this city. On this occasion of Christmas, please answer our call and show us your wonderful power!" Yuki said finally opening her eyes and narrowing her eye brows.
A big magic circle appeared on the tree as it started glowing. Everybody stood back and watched it in awe. The tree glowed and it turned into a fully blossomed rainbow cherry blossom tree. Its colorful petals flew around. Lucy stretched out her hand to catch one petal, which instantly turned into a little star as soon as she touched it. Everyone watched the scene in awe. The petals were turning into little golden stars and falling from the branches.
"So pretty!"
"Wonderful!"
"Awesome!"
Everyone was full of praises and smiles. The moment was so beautiful, everyone wished it lasted forever.
"So she activated the hidden powers of the old Sola tree…" Master thought to himself who was sitting far on the branch of one of the trees. He smiled, "Splendid!"
"How beautiful! I wish I could see this forever!" Lucy said stretching her arms to catch the falling stars.
As if the cue, the magic circle disappeared and the entire scene disappeared. Yuki fell from her sitting position on the grass. She was sweating and panting breathlessly. Everyone gathered around her.
"Sorry…I…I couldn't concentrate….any longer!" she said huffing and puffing.
Lucy helped her get up and Juvia gave her a glass of water. She drank it fast. Lucy took out her handkerchief and gave it to Yuki. She wiped the sweat of her face.
"I'm really sorry, I couldn't make it last longer!" Yuki said sadly.
"No, that was amazing! You were excellent!" Erza said smiling.
"Yeah! That was too cool!" Sting roared. Rogue smiled while Frosch said her usual dialogue 'Fro thinks so too!'
"Yup! Who would have thought that we could have seen rainbow sakura during the chilly winter?" Natsu said grinning.
Yuki smiled brightly, "I'm glad!"
Later, it was almost midnight. The party ended, and everyone headed home. The town was awfully quiet. Gray was sitting over by the river bed; the once beautiful sound of water was gone as the river was dried up years ago. He was looking up at the starry sky. His eyes had a mixture of feelings. He heard someone chuckle. He turned his head to see Lucy.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. He realized that he asked rudely.
"Watching you see the stars," Lucy replied smiling.
"You've been looking at the sky for a long time you know…" she continued as she seated herself beside him on the grass.
"This place holds a lot of memories for all the guild members…"
He just continued looking at the sky. Lucy joined him looking at the stars.
"They are pretty aren't they? The stars I mean!"
"Yeah…" he mumbled. There was comfortable silence. The sound of grasshoppers could be heard.
"I want to say thanks to you." Lucy said. Gray turned to see Lucy who was still looking up.
"Why?" Gray asked with curiosity in his voice.
"For giving me this dress," Lucy said looking at him now.
"How do you know that I gave it to you?"
"Hm…my heart says so…" Lucy said after a moment of thinking.
"Thanks Gray!" she said smiling. She rested her head on his shoulder. Gray smiled.
"We should go home now." He said.
"Yeah, I'm feeling sleepy." She got up and rubbed her eyes sleepily.
"Come, I'll drop you home. It's late anyway." Gray said smiling at her cuteness.
"Thanks again!" Lucy smiled.
They walked up to some distance. Suddenly, they could hear the sound of water. It was clearly, the sound of water. Both of them looked at each other in disbelief. "Can you hear what I hear?" Gray asked as his eyes widened. "I guess so…" Lucy replied. Both of them turned back and ran to the river. Their eyes widened with disbelief. There was water flowing in the river, which had the reflection of the moon and stars on it. The water glowed brightly for a few moments and then turned into blue color. The sound of the calm waters was soothing. They inhaled the fresh air and smiled at each other. Someone was sitting on the branch of a distant tree. She sighed and smiled. "That was too tiring." Yuki said to herself.
"That was too reckless. How much of your power are you going to use?" Erza said who seated herself on another branch.
"As long as I make people happy, I don't care how much ever power it'd take," Yuki said smirking. Erza smiled, satisfied with her answer. They saw the retreating image of Lucy and Gray.
After some time, they arrived in front of Lucy's house.
"Thank you so much for coming till here! Sorry for the trouble!" Lucy said giving him a weak smile.
"It's okay! Good night Lucy." Gray said as he turned to leave.
"W-wait one minute!" Lucy yelled.
"What is it?" Gray asked turning to look at her.
She took out something from her hand bag.
"I forgot to give you these! And these are some cookies that I baked! I've already given Natsu and the others their tickets."
He took it and looked at it. It was a ticket to some amusement park. He looked up and smiled.
"Merry Christmas!" she said smiling.
"Merry Christmas to you too! And thanks for the cookies!" he said leaving.
Lucy saw him going down the lane and turning into some street. She walked in after he disappeared. She entered her room and switched on the lights. Her eyes widened when she saw a present on her table. She saw the label on the gift. It said, 'Merry Christmas! -From Natsu and Happy, with love to Lucy'. She opened it and found a pink scarf with red tips. It looked handmade because some threads had come out due to improper knitting. She smiled to herself.
Flash back~
"Okay, I'll be out in a moment" Lucy said smiling to him.
Natsu walked up to the door. Lucy opened the door and walked out. She was carrying two hand bags.
"Natsu…" Lucy started.
"What is it Lucy?" Natsu asked grinning.
"Here," Lucy said stretching out one of her bags. He took it and looked at her.
"Is this for me?" he asked.
"Yes…" Lucy said blushing.
He opened the back and grinned like a kid. He quickly took out the present and unwrapped it. It was a blue sweater.
"Did you make this?" he asked still grinning.
"Yes…did you like it?" Lucy asked with curiosity.
"Of course! I'll like anything that Lucy's made!" Natsu said grinning like an idiot.
"I'm glad!" she said smiling.
End of flashback~
"So we both made handmade stuff for each other huh?"Lucy said smiling.
"This has been the best Christmas ever!"She thought to herself.
Thank you very much for the reviews – ReianaA, Sachiko Saki, fairytaillover16, CelestialLoverxx!
I hope you all liked the chapter! Really nervous…please review!