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Last Time...

"I promised you and myself that I would protect you no matter what and wish you happiness no matter who you are with. I never planned to tell you my true feelings because you were with Natsu. The day he announced you two were dating, I was completely at a loss. I came to a conclusion that there will no longer be a chance because I knew how much you loved Natsu. All I wanted was for you to be happy, but now throughout the events that have recently happened and from a lot of thinking I realized there's a chance. And I'm willing to take it." Gray took a big breath to calm his nerves.

"I will always protect you and we will always be nakama, but... I want us to be more. I want to be someone even more special to you. I want you to be my side always. I love you Lucy. I always have and always will."

Lucy continued to stay silent. She had no idea what to say. She never thought this moment would come so soon. Now it was totally different from when she first found out about his feelings. She still loves Natsu like she did before, but now some feelings are starting to linger for Gray. She felt a sense of happiness of how much Gray cared and thought about her, but was now scared of how things will be from here on out. Her feelings needed to be sorted, but how much time is needed to her to do that.

"Gray..I..." Gray pressed a finger to her lips.

"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to get my feelings out in the open and let you know that I am going to try my hardest to show you how much I love you. It's your choice if you chose to love me back. I wont force you to do anything." With that he planted a kiss on her forehead.

"It"s getting dark now. We should get going now." He offered his hand.

"Yea.." She took it with no hesitation. Gray loves me...

They made their way back to the village safely. Over half the village were now asleep in their homes. That included Luna, Toni, and Nana Rosa. After entering the home Lucy and Gray let go of each other's hands. Neither really wanted to, but they didn't have a choice. Lucy didn't want to wake up Luna and Toni any later.

"Goodnight Gray."

"Goodnight Lucy. Sweet dreams."

He gave one last smile before Lucy shut the door. His smile lingered into Lucy's mind before she dozed off. Gray had also thought off how beautiful her smile was today. His final thoughts before dozing off...I finally did it.

Next Morning (Lucy & Luna)

"Oh my gosh! I can already imagine how your babies with look like. Probably have blond hair with dark blue eyes or raven hair with chocolate brown eyes." Luna started ranting about Lucy and Gray's future after telling her yesterday's events. Lucy just dropped a sweat from how she reminded her of Mira. She would be reacting the same way.

"Calm down Luna. It's not like I accepted his confession."

"Are you?" Lucy didn't know what to say to that.

"I..I don't know..." Lucy couldn't deny that she felt something for Gray. She wasn't sure what. She loves Gray, but had she fallen in love with him as a woman who falls in love with a man. It was all just question she couldn't think of answers to and it was eating her on the inside. She already has the whole Natsu thing to deal with.

"Lucy...Are you in love with him?"

"I honestly don't know Luna. I'm not sure if it's just love for nakama, admiration, or if I have truly fallen in love with Gray. *sigh* I'm still sorting out my feelings about my ex. I care about them both and love them, but now my feelings are becoming a big mess and I don't know how to clean it. What should I do?" Lucy was almost in the verge of tears. It wasn't fair to her, Gray, or Natsu. They both deserved an answer, but it's not possible right now.

"Lucy dear." Nana Rosa had just entered the living room where Lucy and Luna were discussing.

"Nana Rosa."

"Grandma! How did everything go this morning. Nothing off today?"

"Nope. Peaceful as it should be, but it seems like everyone is not at peace right now. I heard everything Lucy and let me tell you what I think."

"Okay."

"I can see that you care about both boys equally and I'm sure both boys care about you. I'm not saying you should chose right away, but to really think about your feelings towards both of them. It's not something that will be fixed on it's own. Chose whoever makes you happy, who will always be there for you, and who you always will want by your side every second of the day. I of course wish Gray a lot of luck because I am very fond of the boy, but I also wish the other happiness. Be sure to chose soon. Who will make you happiest for the rest of your life."With a gentle smile she head out the door.

"My grandmother is right Lucy. It isn't something to take lightly. These feelings Gray holds for you are pure and strong. Don't wait too long." Lucy completely understood, but it was going to take a while to accept everything.

"I understand. I will think about giving Gray a chance, but maybe when Natsu returns so then it will be fair and will be easier to realize the difference in my feelings between both of them."

"Okay Lucy. By the way where is Gray? I haven't seen him all morning."

"He went to go help the villagers with the crops early in the morning. He seemed to have gotten accustomed to the life style here."

"Oh that's really great. It's too bad tomorrow is your last day."

"Yea. You're planning on staying a bit longer aren't you?"

"Yes. I missed my home village very much and I feel like it would be best for me and Toni to stick around a little longer. Also, he seems to be getting attached to Christian."

"You never know. He might become his new daddy." Lucy gave her a wink and all Luna did was stutter and blush.

"L..Lucy tha..that's t..t...to soon!" Lucy couldn't hold in her laughter. Luna's reaction was too much.

The day went by smoothly with no worries or problems as usual. Gray and Lucy hadn't had a chance to talk yet since yesterday. Both still had a lot on their heads, but they both knew they couldn't avoid each other forever.

It was getting dark and everyone was enjoying the little company they had left before it was time to go to bed. Lucy thought it would be a good opportunity to talk with Gray now since they haven't spoken to each other all day. She started to look around the village the spot the raven haired stripper. She had no luck for about ten minutes until she saw him on top a hill leaning against a tree.

"Gray..." No answer. She made her way up the tree to see if he was alright. He was and was soundly asleep. Probably had a long day. She sat right next to him and leaned against the tree as well. Now starting to look up at the stars that were now appearing.

"There sure are a lot of stars here huh" she whispered gently. She knew he couldn't hear her, but it didn't matter. It just didn't feel right not talking to Gray for a day. She reached into the pockets of her pink sweater to warm her hands up. Then felt a glass object.

"Oh yea. I still haven't contacted Natsu since that time." Flash back occurred when he wouldn't stop saying rude things about Gray and was being unreasonable.

"He probably learned his lesson. I'll call him tomorrow." Lucy was still a little upset, but she still missed him. His goofy grin, childish attitude, and kind heart that always made her smile. That's why this was going to be a tough decision between them. She looked over to see Gray still sleeping against the tree. "Let's see what the future holds for us." After half an hour Lucy had also dozed off leaning against the tree while her head was upon Gray's shoulder. Gray had woken up fifteen minutes after Lucy had dozed off. He didn't want to wake her up, but now it was getting pitch black and the villagers were in their homes getting ready for bed.

"Lucy..." He shook her gently.

"Mmm yes..."

"We should stop meeting like this. Seems like almost every time I see you, your sleeping. Common we should head back." One again he took her by the hand and lead her back home, but they were not met with the quiet, dark time of the village where everyone was in their respectable homes resting.

Some villagers were still up and were gathered around with torches in their hand for lighting. Gray pulled Lucy along to hear the commotion. They heard constant questions of "Are you two alright?", "Why are you hear?" and "Where are you from?"

"Did someone get hurt?" Lucy started o get worried.

"I don't know, but we should see if we can help."

"Yes, you two come with me. I still don't know who I am dealing with. I need to see the person's face before being able to read their mind. Nana Rosa said while walking from behind.

"We got you. Well keep the villagers safe as well is anything goes wrong. Right Lucy."

"Right!"

"Thank you both. Now let's see what's the commotion about. Everyone excuse me."

"Nana Rosa was the first to enter within the crowd of people." Lucy and Gray were still making their way in.

"Hello. I am the one in charge of this village. May I ask who you are and why you are here. We will tend to your wounds right away."

"Hello. We are sorry to cause a disturbance, but we are wizards who are here to ask question that we can hopefully get answers to for the magic council. After we got all that we can get we will be on our way."

"Yea what he said."

"I see well then I will gladly cooperate. May I ask what are both of your names again."

"Oh yea sorry. My name is Gajeel Redfox. Fairy Tail wizard and iron dragon slayer."

"Damn long intro. Trying to brag."

"Shut up fire breath and introduce yourself."

"You shut up and my name is-"

"Natsu?..." It wasn't his voice who said his name. It was even a more higher and gentler voice. Once he hasn't heard for a long time and has longed. He looked up to see her making her way through the crowd finally. With a certain ice mage right behind her. He paid no attention to him because all his attention was on-

"Lucy..."

Next Morning (With Lucy)

How did things turn out this way? How could this happen so soon? Lucy was in a state of worry panic and confusion. She wasn't ready to see Natsu face-to-face. Today was barley the day she was going to contact him,but that ship had sailed.

Yesterday's events were bit awkward. No one knew what else to say after Natsu and Lucy had spotted each other. Gray had also said his name in head while Nana Rosa and Luna were tying the strings together on how Natsu knew Lucy. It didn't take long. Gajeel just thought that this was going to be a very dramatic week.

Everyone was going on with their usual morning routine. Gray saw Lucy doing the dishes from breakfast and decided to helpout.

"Hey you need any help?" He walked on over and started drying.

"Thanks." Lucy gave the best smile she could, but Gray knew she had a lot on her mind.

"Don't do that Lucy. I know how worried and scared you are." Lucy sighed. She knew she couldn't keep anything from him.

"Sorry Gray. I just don't know how to approach him. Its almost been over a week since I last talked to him. Now he's here in person. Also, I don't know how hell react when he sees you and how hell know we are leaving today. I just-"

"Hey calm down. You don't need t worry about me. I can handle myself against that flaming idiot. You should just take your time. There's no rush. Knowing him he'll approach you first. This is probably a good chance to talk things out a bit."

"Yea your right. Thanks Gray. I can always count on you for advice." She gave him a quick hug.

"No problem Lucy. You know I'm here no matter what. I'm not planning on giving you up that easily though." He gave a cocky grin and a wink that made Lucy blush.

"D..don't say st..stuff like that." Gray chuckled by her cute reactions.

"Alright then Ill see you later. Going to walk around the village to see if anyone needs some last minute assistance." He gently patted her head and took off.

After walking around for twenty minutes he could see no one needed his assistance for the day.

"They all may have everything covered. I should go back Lucy."

"I'm sure she doesn't miss you so there's no need to head back soon." Gray turned to see Natsu bandaged up from all the wounds he had received. He had no idea how he got those wounds, but it didn't bother the dragon slayer.

"What do you want Natsu?"

"We need to talk."

"Alright then." They both walked a good twenty minutes away from the village. Almost a little past where Lucy and Gray had their pick-nick. Natsu smelled their lingering scents at the hill. When did they come all the way over hear? Why were they over hear? He clenched his teeth to keep himself from yelling. He didn't want to think of any possibilities.

"Alright man this is far enough. What do you want to talk about?"

Natsu's eyes were covered from his bangs. He clenched his fists.

"I'm only going to ask you this one more time. Do you love Lucy?" Gray saw this one coming.

"Yes I do." He said with no hesitation and seriousness. He had been fond of the celestial mage for a long time and he was not going to deny them anymore. Before he knew it he was on the ground with pain coursing through his left cheek. Natsu had punched him full force with so much anger.

"What the hell Natsu!?" Natsu continued to throw punches at him. Gray tried to dodge each one. He too felt a sense to fight back, but he wasn't sure. Then he thought he saw a small tear going down Natsu's cheek. He thought he might of imagined it, but he could see Natsu was trying to let out his pain and anger some way and the only way was with brute force. He let him take a few shots at him, but he wasn't going to give in. He fought back. Natsu realized he got the idea of the fight and was glad he cooperated. He would have felt even worse if it was just him trying to beat him up. He thought of Gray as a close friend, even though he didn't admit it. He didn't mean anything he said about him to Lucy. He was just jealous and pissed. He couldn't stand the thought of someone else loving Lucy. Especially if it was one of his closest friends.

They went for about two hours fighting and it was mid afternoon. Both were completely exhausted, but somehow relaxed because they were able to let everything out. They were now just laying down and looking at the blue sky.

"How are you doing over there." Natsu starting the conversation while still catching his breath.

"I'm fine. You?" Gray answered while also catching his breath.

"Yea." It went quiet again. It was awkward to bring up anything, but Natsu needed to make things clear.

"I'm not giving her up." Natsu stated.

"Me neither. I decided it's time to act on my feelings and I want to make her happy."

"Well then let's see who will give her more happiness."

Hey Everyone :)

Sorry if I took too long again. I started some college classes early and I have a tight scheduled. I'll try to update as soon as I can when I have some free time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave some reviews or opinions about what you would like to see happen or any ideas for future stories. Love you all :)