DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail; not its characters, the settings or anything—Hiro Mashima-sensei does. The only thing I do own is the plot of this story. Either ways, please respect our works.

WRITER'S BLOCK: I think that Ren and Toushiro are really cute together. Don't you?

WARNING: Long chapter… tsk… sorry!

-CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: WARMTH-
"It just needs a little patience, love and warmth."

It was already dark then. The Sommerfield home was silent and everyone in it was asleep.

Well, almost everyone. In the guest room, four people were cramped together in a small space, having barely enough room to move about in their sleep. Usually, Ren would be able to sleep as soon as the light went out but tonight, it was something different. He didn't mind it, though, the strange feeling of alienation, but instead he was even amused.

He crept in closer beside his twin brother, Toushiro, and laid his head on his shoulder, near his ear.

Feeling the heavy weight of Ren's head, Toushiro moved his hand to Ren's head and shifted it to a more comfortable position.

Hand still on his twin's head, Toushiro faced him and whispered, "What?"

"So you're still awake, nii-san…" Ren smiled and buried his head on his brother's side.

"What?" he repeated.

"You can feel it, too?"

"Oh… Yeah…"

"Those two seem to be awake, too," Ren said, obviously amazed.

"That doesn't mean you can be so loud," Toushiro said and inclined his head closer to his twin's.

Ren giggled and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Gray was obviously stirring on his back. He couldn't sleep at all for like, the third night already. How can he? On his right were incestuous twin brothers who act more like lovers and on his left was Lucy who slept so closely beside him.

Why does this room have to be so small, anyway? He asked himself.

He sat up and glanced around the cold and dark room. To his right, the twins, who seemed to be asleep, were snuggled together comfortably. Nothing strange outside except that the wind was particularly strong and the sound of the trees as they swayed in it was actually very mellow.

The door isn't locked, he thought. He stood up and went to the door to lock it, unconsciously brushing his foot against Lucy's causing her to wake up.

"Gray? Where're you going?" Lucy asked, half-awake.

"Just going to lock the door or the wind'll open it," he replied, not even looking at her.

"Oh," Lucy shivered. "It's cold. Is it always this cold here?"

"At night, yeah. Take my blanket, I'll be fine without it." Gray offered and handed the blanket to Lucy.

"Are you mad at me?" Lucy asked.

"What? No, of course not!" he exclaimed a bit loudly. Ren stirred and groaned a bit, causing Gray to cover his mouth.

"Shh!" Lucy said.

"It's scary to wake Ren up forcibly. He gets in a bad mood and takes on a completely different personality," Gray said, sweating, as if he'd just been ordered around by Erza.

"R-really?" Lucy asked and found it hard to believe. Somehow, she couldn't see the sweet Ren that greeted her earlier that day becoming blood thirsty and dark. "Atishooo!"

"Bless you," Gray joked. "Get back to sleep or you'll end up with pneumonia."

He put his own blanket around Lucy.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," he boasted. "I'm used to the cold—Atishooo!"

Slightly shivering, Gray lay on his head and put on his jacket, trying to give herself additional warmth.

"Yeah, right." Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. Then she took the blanket and put it over Gray.

"What—?" Gray said as he felt her rejecting his gentlemanly offer. "You—"

Lucy grabbed her pillow and put it close to Gray and she, herself, laid her head on it while snuggling closer to Gray.

"Don't get any wrong ideas," she said and felt herself blushing. "But it's always been warmer when you're with someone you hold dear."

Gray smiled, then turned on his side and shared the blanket with Lucy. "Is that right?"

"Y-yeah…" she said and Gray held her even closer. "But this—this is just for tonight, okay?"

"Whatever," Gray replied, thankful that it was dark except for the moonlight that penetrated the room. He could feel that he wouldn't be able to hide the smile on his face by then.

Lucy got used to using spoons and so she found it hard to use chopsticks again. But that wouldn't be enough to stop her from filling her hungry stomach, though.

Very carefully, she held the sticks on her hand and used it to pick up the egg rolls on her plate. Then, as meticulous as she picked it, she placed it in her mouth and enjoyed the taste of the tangy dish.

"Mmm!" she could only say. "Compliments to the cook!"

"Thanks!" Toushiro said, his head raised glowing at Lucy's remark.

"You're really good, Toushiro-san!"

Ren sighed. "I envy you, Gray-kun..."

"Hmm?" Gray looked up, his faced puffed up as his mouth was full of food. "Why?"

"You have such a cute girlfriend!"

Lucy choked. "I'm not—really, I'm not..."

"What she said..."

"Oh..." Ren said, then lay his head on the small table they were eating on. "I wish I had a girlfriend."

"Ren, put your head off of the table!" Toushiro ordered.

"You haven't had a girlfriend, Ren-san?"

"Nope," he replied immediately. "But I had a lot of boyfriends though..."

"What—?" Lucy said in disbelief.

"Actually," Ren leaned in closer to her with such a sheepish look on his face that he was blushing, "Shiro-nii-san and I are in an open relationship..."

"Wha—?"

"He doesn't like to brag about it but—"

Ren made a halt in his statement as Toushiro hit the back of his head with a frying pan.

"Stop making up stories, idiot..."

"Owwiee..." Ren said, the corner of his eyes filling up with tears. "Lucy-chan, nii-san hit me on the head with a frying pan!"

"You're too young, Ren!" His twin exclaimed.

"What?!" Ren protested. "I'm twenty-two and Lucy is what, seventeen?"

Lucy nodded and the feminine man clung to Lucy's waist and laid his head on her chest. This time, it was Gray's turn to hit Ren on the head with Toushiro's frying pan.

"Are you trying to injure me before we finish our mission?" Ren said, trying to gain empathy.

"Ah!" Lucy exclaimed. "Which reminds me, you haven't really told me the details of the mission."

"Oh, yeah..." Toushiro said. "As you already know, someone is trying to shut down the Sommerfield's business."

"And what's worse is that they are targeting Lulu-chan if Ivan-san doesn't do it," Ren reminded, suddenly serious.

"When I first came here two days ago, there was a pretty beat-up guy here. It seems to me you guys 'eliminated' few others before?" Gray asked the twins.

"Yeah. We've been doing this mission for a month now but assassins just came one after the other," said Toushiro.

"It seems that there's no stopping to them and that they're backed by an equally powerful man," Ren added.

"And do you have any leads?" asked Lucy, now in a detective-mode.

"The threats seem to be sent by an anonymous '2L,'

"Our best guess is that this '2L,'" Toushiro raised his index and middle fingers in the air, "is the Sommerfield's greatest business rival, Lesther Langdon, who owns a few diamond mines himself. However, when the Sommerfields got the monopoly, their business started to go down the drain."

"If you're sure about Langdon," Lucy said, "Why don't you take him out?"

"Not enough evidence..." Ren said. "We haven't actually caught any of his messengers sending the threats."

"And sadly, the assassins he sends don't know him either. It seems that Langdon sends them the money and instructions anonymously," Toushiro explained.

"Tsk..." Gray said. "This Langdon guy sure is smart. He left no loose ends at all."

"Does Lulu-chan know anything about the threats?" Lucy asked, suddenly feeling sorry for the girl.

"Yes," Ren said. "But you don't have to worry. She's very intelligent and wise."

"Speaking of which, Ren, it's time for Lulu's morning snack," Toushiro said and taking a tray with food on it.

"Hai, hai, nii-san..."

Ren was about to stand up when Lucy offered, "Can I do it? I want to talk to Lulu..."

"She's not very fond of you, huh?" Gray said smirking.

"Shut up. It just needs a little patience, love and warmth."

Then Lucy took the tray and headed for the dining hall.

Lucy walked carefully as she carried the tray to Lulu's room. If she was going to protect her, she had to make the kid like her.

"I said 'Go out,' Lulu!" screamed Ivan Sommersault. It echoed from one of the rooms, around the hallway and into Lucy's ears.

Then, a door slammed and out came a disheartened Lulu, running away.

"Lul—" Lucy couldn't finish her statement as Lulu rushed, not seeming to see Lucy as she passed her.

Lucy hurried after the girl, still carrying the lunch tray, and ultimately wound up at the backyard where Lulu sulked and cried, feeding her pet pigeons.

The whole scene looked very familiar to the Stellar Spirit mage that it brought back her own memories of being the heiress of the Heartfilia conglomerate.

With one deep breath, Lucy walked forward to the crying child who seemed to be unaware still of her presence.

"Your snack, Lulu-chan," she said as she placed the tray beside the girl.

Lulu wiped her tears—and the mucus that escaped her nose—and answered, "I don't wanna…"

"What're you so mad at anyway?" said Lucy. She sat beside Lulu and picked up some bird seed from the sack.

"Daddy shouted at me…" she said, trying to sound strong but she ultimately ended up crying again. "He told me to go away."

"Really? 'Cause to me it sounded like he told you to 'Go out.'"

"What difference does that make?!" Lulu said in protest at the older girl.

"He told you to 'go out' of the room but not to 'go away' from him. There's the difference."

"What are you saying?" Lulu said in suspicion. "Are you trying to comfort and suck up to me?"

"You're fast, kid. Too fast," Lucy smirked. "I'm trying to comfort you, yeah. But not really trying to suck up to you."

"As if you know how I feel…" Lulu snapped.

She threw another handful of bird seed at her pigeons which were now starting to grow in number. Silently, they cooed and this was the only sound that could be heard as Lucy and Lulu said nothing for a while.

It was Lucy who broke the silence. "I do know how you feel, actually."

Lulu immediately looked at her in disbelief. "Y-you're lying."

"As if, kid," Lucy said and looked at Lulu. "My whole name is Lucy Heartfilia. My father used to be a wealthy businessman who owned a railway and some other stuff. Anyway, the whole gist of it is that I've been where you are."

Lulu made no reply but kept on looking at Lucy, eyebrows meeting, forehead scrunched and tears still flowing.

"Ah, there was a time on my birthday when I gave my dad a rice ball," Lucy recounted. "That was my sixth birthday, I think, and I wanted him to take me to the amusement park. He said he was busy but I bugged him so he told me to 'Get out,'

"I cried a whole lot that day, despite it being my birthday. I ended up celebrating it with some of our workers back at home."

"And your mom?" Lulu finally asked as she wiped the tears on her cheek.

"She's dead."

"Mine as well," Lulu said apologetically. "What did you do afterward?"

"I ran away from home and ended up to my home away from home, my guild," Lucy said smiling as if she'd just told the kid a greatest epic of all time.

"And your dad?"

"Our business went down and completely shut because I didn't agree to marry some perverted prince who looked like a tomato. My dad's working at a merchant's guild now and is starting all over. I have contact of him but we don't really meet much."

"I wish my dad's business shut down," Lulu said, staring at the ground. "That way he'd have more time for me."

"Hey, don't say that," Lucy said and faced the kid. Lulu glanced up to her in confusion. "Your father is working hard for you, you know."

"No, he's not. He's a bad man who just thinks about money."

"Lulu…"

"I just…" tears fell from the child's face again," …want him to notice me and play with me like all the other kid's dads do."

Not knowing why, Lucy pulled the child into a tight hug and tried to stop her from crying.

"I'll try and go to talk to you dad, okay? Hush, now…"

"You'd do that?" the girl said in between sobs.

"I will… If you stop crying now…" Lucy faced Lulu and looked at her gently with her eyes. "But you have to promise me to be strong."

Lulu nodded and hugged Lucy by the waist.

"She's the daughter of the Heartfilia conglomerate?!" Ren whispered to his brother and Gray who were eavesdropping on the whole thing from behind the door.

"You didn't tell us!" Toushiro added.

"Must've slipped my mind," Gray said coolly.

"She's that rich?! Why's she working at your guild?!"

"Shush it! Didn't you hear her say that their business went bankrupt? She's as broke as all of us are—!"

"Bad news! Bad news!" said a servant who came rushing from behind them.

Lucy, Lulu, Gray and the twins immediately turned to look at him.

"It's bad! It's very bad!" he repeated.

"What is it? What's bad?" Toushiro asked and shook the pale servant out of panic.

Ren, seeing a piece of paper on his hand, grabbed it and read.

"Oh, no…" he could only say.

"What's wrong Ren?" Gray asked and Lucy hurried to them, carrying Lulu in her arms.

"Another one of the is going to strike," Ren said. "Tonight."

Lucy pulled Lulu closer to her and Gray clenched a fist.

"Time to finish this," he said. "Let's do it."

Gray was starting to threaten me because I wasn't giving him much lines here.

Anyway, an action-filled chapter coming up!

I hope not to disappoint! -_-