Author's Note: Hello! Had a hard time coming up with a title for the chapter...it's not really happy or sad, but it's sort of in between. I will say it's a lot spicier than the last one!

Also, I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter Thirty Eight - Wintertime Blues

"Well that will do it for Magnolia, tonight!" Yelled the eccentric TV announcer Chapati Lola into his network microphone. "The Fairies come out on top vs the proud Oshibana Trailblazers in a miraculous 15 point win! Sure the Blazers are a western conference team, but the Fairies need all the points they can get to secure their home court advantage going into the playoffs."

His side kick Yajima nodded and smiled. "Ah I remember the good ol' days of January basketball. Everyone tried to act like it was just a regular month, but in the end it always turns into February in the blink of an eye. Then before you know it you're standing out in the regular season closer!"

Chapati laughed and began to sign off. "Right you are, Mr Yajima! Well that will do it for us tonight. Be sure to catch us tomorrow for our Saturday special header when we venture to Crocus to watch the Roses host their cross-city rivals, the Black Devils."

As the game came to an end the Fairies and Trailblazer players respectably shook hands and slowly marched off to their locker rooms. However, a few characters remained in their seats throughout the crowd. Two notable men were Jude Heartfilia and Warrod Sequen.

Warrod began stroking his chin. "Well, quite a win for the Fairies tonight, ay Jude?"

The elder Heartfilia sighed. "I'm sorry are you being literal or facetious?"

Warrod howled with laughter. "Well you tell me? The Dragneel boy had thirty points again! And the Fullbuster kid led the game in assists…which is interesting considering they play Point Guard and Small Forward, but their stats fit the other's positions…"

Jude sighed. "Yes, I know those stats should be switched, but Natsu loves taking shots, and he's…I can't believe I'm saying this…a natural born leader."

Warrod smiled and nudged him on the arm. "Hehehe, I'm glad your true colors are starting to emerge. He is an exceptionally talented player. Fit for the owner's daughter, wouldn't you agree?"

Jude was starting to get annoyed. "Hmm, I'm still under the impression my daughter is in the middle of blowing off steam. I can't imagine she'll stay with him for the whole season, after all she can't once she begins her college classes…" He went to say something else, but instantly he received a phone call.

Raising an eyebrow, he looked to the phone and then opened up the call. "Hello?"

"Oh hello, Mister Heartfilia! Or should I just call you, Jude?"

"Mr. Cream." Jude raised an eyebrow while he collected the voice. "Good to hear back from you. How's your father?"

The young boy on the other end of the line laughed. "Oh he's doing well. Still ruling the country I suppose."

Jude tried to smile. "Well, I can't imagine Veronica is a hard country to rule, it is very tiny after all."

"Oh you are quite funny!" The Cream boy chuckled. "Listen, about our proposed deal…you're still willing to take the agreement right?"

Jude looked to Warrod with an apologetic face, and the elderly former FBA player smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder as he slowly stood up and escorted himself out.

He then continued. "Mr. Cream I'll be honest, your company's merits are very remarkable. You're investment plans for the next few years also look very impressive."

Cream let out a coy laugh. "Didn't I promise you would have nothing to fear?! We are the finest business in all of Veronica! So is it a yes? Shall I go ahead and book you a flight for a pre-meeting?"

Jude tried to fake a pleasant reaction. "Well son, I'll need to slow down that plan, after all I just returned from my last visit not too long ago, and I haven't even seen my daughter since I returned this morning. I'll get back to you with a more official answer in the near future."

Cream sounded irritated, but accepting at the same time. "Yes fine, just please hurry. After all I have a business of my own to manage…" He then lingered before hanging up.

"Also, don't be afraid to bring that daughter of yours along as well. I've been told she's a very pleasant individual to be around…we are the same age after all."

Jude now sounded more annoyed with Cream. "Is that so? Well hopefully you won't regret saying that. Maybe I'll take my time on the deal and re-evaluate that last thought of yours…I'll contact you when I'm ready."

"A-ah no worries! J-just keep me updated! Hehe…" Awkwardly cowering on the other end, the young boy from Veronica quickly ended the call and left Jude with a sour thought on his mind.

"Veronica…well it wouldn't be the worst place to live…they do have acceptable colleges as well."

Now, we find ourselves removed from the moment entirely as we arrive to the apartment residence of Levy McGarden, and her evening guest Gajeel Redfox. Gajeel sat with a group of empty beers in front of him and a sour look on his face as he watched the Fairies game come to an end.

Levy had just gotten back from her office, and was just finishing her own little meal. She then yelled from the kitchen. "So Gajeel? What game were you watching?"

Looking rather angry at the question, Gajeel responded quickly. "Wasn't really payin' attention…so don't worry about it."

Levy stopped what she was doing and started laughing. "Look, you're lucky it's only a one-game suspension! I mean…you didn't have to hit the guy."

"Mff." Gajeel grunted under his breath with anger. At his last game a group of random Phantom fans decided to buy lower level Fairies tickets to make Gajeel's performance a living nightmare. Sadly for them, their rowdiest jokester ended up on the wrong end of an end-game beat down. Levy had to use some of her negotiation skills to whittle his punishment down to a fine and single game suspension this time, but now she was worried the next time around wouldn't be so easy to brush off.

In any case, the blue haired GM laughed and walked over to join him on the couch. "Wow, what ever would you do without me? I'm always here playing the hero for your goofy shenanigans." She teased him as she sat down with a bowl of popcorn in her hand.

Gajeel stole the bowl and began eating it without her. "Yea? Could have at least gotten me another beer…"

Levy looked him in the eye with her far hand draped below the armrest. She then smiled and slowly raised it revealing a freshly opened bottle of beer and started titling it back and forth.

"Oh sorry…this one's mine." Quickly taking a sip, Levy tried enjoying it before Gajeel stole that too and began downing it quickly. Laughing at his anger, Levy laid her head down on his shoulder. "Truth be told I don't even mind it. After all I always have to make the deals after the game…and they usually get me out of those horrible press conferences. So it's sort of a win-win!"

Gajeel found the silver lining to be funny and started to grin. "God I can't tell if you hate your job, or if you just plain suck at it, but either way don't quit what you're doing, kid."

"Kid?" Levy raised her head and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We're the same age, Gajeel."

As Gajeel started scratching his head at that thought, Levy re-placed hers on his shoulders and let out a deep breath. "Ahh, well you probably saw, but we won, so hopefully all your teammates are gonna have a good weekend!"

As Gajeel and Levy continued enjoying their night in, one other members of the Magnolia Fairies was returning home from his team's big win.

"Agh, I can't believe Natsu took all those shots." Laxus said with an irritable expression on his face. "And why the hell did Gray keep feeding him the ball? It's not like everyone else was being guarded the whole time."

Venting to himself, the tall captain sighed and re-adjusted his thoughts. "Eh but what the hell? They won the game with that crap. Must be the leftovers from their days in Acalypha…" As he pulled into the private garage below his tall apartment complex, Laxus parked his massive black SUV and locked the doors as he made his way up to the lobby.

Now, opening the door to his room, Laxus quickly entered into the living room to find a sickly but still cheery Mirajane lying on the couch.

"Awe *Achoo!* there's my little winner!" Mira spoke as she wiped her nose with a tissue, but still looked adorable wrapped up in a fluffy blanket alone on the couch.

Laxus went straight for the fridge. "Save it. You know I didn't want to play, tonight."

Mira rolled her eyes and giggled. "Yea, you told me you would rather stay home with me, and I told you that was a dumb idea. I mean, look! I gotta stay here and watch you win the game, so it's not like I lost out on anything!"

"Mgg..." He grunted as he popped open a beer bottle.

Mira then turned around and re-directed herself to the TV. "But, I can't say I was only watching your game. There was a good match up in Margaret Town tonight. The Lamia's lost at the last second to the Pegasus team."

"Really?" Laxus looked impressed. "Damn, they both might make the playoffs now. Come to think of it I could see us playing Margaret Town in the first or second round."

Mira tried to follow, but she started to giggle again. "Yea…I was barely watching the game until it came to an end…Oooooo one of the players on Acalypha did the sweetest thing I've ever seen!"

Laxus was worried by her giddiness and proceeded with caution. "Yea? Well what was it…?"

Mira grabbed a pillow and squeezed it against her chest. "Oooo I think his name was Ren? He had a really good game, but the important bit was he also appeared to be dating a girl sitting in the front row! Actually she sort of looked like one of the girls in Lucy's class…anyway you'll never guess what happened!"

"Oh brother…" Instantly Laxus' mind reverted back to the night with Cana, and how she found out Laxus was planning on proposing to Mira…eventually.

Mira took that reply as a 'go ahead' and carried on. "Oooooooo he proposed to her! Right on TV! No it wasn't like that creepy guy with Juvia, but an actual proposal, right after his big game, and she said yes! Ohhhh her cheeks were the same color as her pink hair, she looked soo happy to be alive!"

Laxus swallowed a lump in his throat and tried wading through the treacherous conversation. "Y-yea, but come on…those kind of relationships never last? All the cheesy stuff involved with that sort of thing, it never works."

"Yea, but I don't know, I find it kind of romantic…" Mira tried following his argument, but she began ignoring him as she drifted off into Dream Land. "Oh could you imagine if Ren would have waited for the playoffs!? What if his team would have won the championship game!? Oh he could have asked her there and…ooooooo!"

Laxus took that as a bad sign and downed his beer in one go. Throwing away the bottle, he turned down the hall. "Yea, well sounds like a fun story. Anyway my stomach's feelin bad, I'll be right back."

"Heehee, okaaay...hope you don't have what I have!" Still in her own world, Mira barely heard anything he said and nodded as she laid her head down on a pillow.

Now locked away in the bathroom, Laxus found himself standing in front of the mirror while he gave himself some highly needed self-therapy. "Agh…look…let's just see where the season goes from here on out. I don't wanna jump into this sort of crap without thinking it through first."

Now, the night went to a complete end, and the next morning we find two more Fairies wondering around the Magnolia business district.

"Ohh Gray are you sure we should be doing this? I could just start out as some minor cook somewhere in town first!"

Gray rolled his eyes as Juvia held one of his hands with two of hers. "Juvia relax, that's the plan. I just wanna let these restaurant owners know we're in the market…" He let a tiny smile crack on his face as Juvia raised an eyebrow.

She spoke up. "Hold on, do you know something I don't?"

Gray had no choice but to respond. "Eh, let's just say I met up with one of those places you said you liked…and I've been having regular conversations with him about getting you on as a chef, or even buying the place out."

"Ooooooo…" Juvia sounded like a broken record as she stopped walking for a moment, forcing Gray to awkwardly stop as well.

Finally, he brain caught up to her mouth. "OOOOOOHHH GRAY!" She had no idea if it was a good idea to jump into the business so early, but fielding options never hurt anyone before.

Besides, she was just too excited that he was the one who planned it all for her. Now holding his arm, Juva and Gray eventually made it to the restaurant in question. Its name was The Deep Blue, and it found itself situated right on the shores of the large Lake Magnolia on the edge of town. Juvia took pride in all her cooking work, but out of all her styles, sea food was her specialty. She had yet to make Gray anything from her aquatic menu, but eventually she had a few ideas in mind for her first dish with him.

Excited and nervous at the same time, Juvia and Gray opened the doors and found the place to be very jam-packed with customers. Waiters and Managers ran around frantically trying to keep up with the lunch crowd, and as things lightened up for a short second, the hostess finally made her way over.

"I am so sorry for the long wait! Can I help you?"

Gray started with a grin. "Yea we had reservations for noon, under Fullbuster."

Without hesitation the girl lit up with a smile. "Oh you're Gray! Yes, or owner told us you and your girlfriend would be coming by! We have a seat in the back waiting for both of you!"

Smiling with pure joy, Juvia held his arm tighter than ever as the hostess walked them back to a nice indoor table.

Now waiting for service, Juvia and Gray decided to split an afternoon bottle of wine as they sat and talked.

"Well everyone seems nice!" Juvia said with sparkles in her eyes. "Oh at the very least this would surely be a lovely place to work at for my first job since college!"

Gray nodded and took a bread roll from their pre-dinner basket. "Yea, plus the menu looks pretty good too. I could see myself coming to support you on a regular basis."

Juvia reached out and grabbed his hand. "Oh can you imagine? You and your friends from the Fairies could come here for every lunch on Saturdays or Sundays, it would be wonderful!"

Gray laughed a little. "Yea, it mainly depends on Natsu, he's the bigger eater in the group. Not to mention Cana is a big boozer. If we're thinking the full crew we'll have to sample a few more drinks."

They both let out a little laugh until a round man with a balding head and an awkward smile walked over to greet them. "H-hello, I've been told you are Gray Fullbuster? And that would make you Miss Juvia Lockster?"

Both the young Fairies smiled and nodded, and Juvia held out her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir! I am really looking forward to see what this venue has to offer for my employment!"

The man held a hand behind his head. "Um, yes well I need to be clear about one recent development before we begin any further discussion."

Gray shrugged. "What, does she have to start out lower on the list? We've talked it over, it won't kill her to…"

The manager stopped Gray there. "Well no. It's about the facility all together. Unfortunately I cannot actually have this conversation with you until our new owner comes in to take his new place."

"O-oh" Juvia sounded a bit disappointed now that buying the place was off the table, but she still liked the way Gray put it just a minute ago. "Well I can be patient for an interview. When will he be in?"

The manager felt all the weight of stress lift off his shoulders as he sighed with relief. "Oh thank you for your cooperation! We looked over your resume and sample recipes, and I must say everyone on the staff was very impressed. Even the new owner, who will actually be in this weekend. His name is Bora Sinclair."

Weeell…ahem, after hearing that odd bit of news, it might be a good time to shift our focus to a later part in the evening…let's see, where can we go before things get too awkward...ahah!

Here we find Jellal and Erza having a nice stay at home meal!

"Well, I knew you liked cooking, Jellal, but I never knew you enjoyed it this much." Erza said with a smile as she put down her fork.

The proud Jellal shrugged as he crossed his legs and finished off a glass of red wine. "Yes, well I've always tried to keep up my work in the kitchen. After all I went through a lot of terrible relationships, and I could never expect any of them to stay held together."

Erza grinned and grabbed their empty plates. "Well, I'm glad I discovered you, I may have you teach me a thing or two."

Jellal raised an eyebrow as he watched his lovely girlfriend leave. "That wouldn't be the first time you told me that."

Erza rolled her eyes and began running water over the dishes, and as Jellal went to join her, he stopped and heard his phone buzzing.

"Hmm…" He pondered in his mind as he opened up the screen and looked to find a random number in his message box.

"Hello Jellal ;) I've been meaning to chat with you lately."

Jellal's heart started skip beats as he ran the number through his head. "This looks familiar…"

He then replied. "Sorry, I think you have the wrong number."

It took little time to find a new message. "You are so adorable…Is that the way you greet an old friend? It's Minerva, I was just letting you know I'll be in town at the end of the month when the Tigers come to end the season in Magnolia."

He almost dropped his phone with fear now running through his head. "H-how in the hell did she find my number?"

Before he replied, there was one more message to read.

"It will surely be a big game for both our teams…I expect to have a hug when I'm in town. xoxo"

Jellal's blood began to boil as he went to type a reply, but before he could Erza asked him a question.

"Jellal? Who texted you?" She noticed he looked stumped and just wanted to make sure everything was alright.

"I can't tell her who it was, she'd worry too much, and then I'd have to buy another phone…I know she doesn't actually want to see me, she's just trying to get in my head for the game...but I know I can handle this."

Without replying to Minerva, Jellal switched his phone off. "Oh it was Natsu…he got mad none of us hung out with him after the game last night."

Erza nodded her head, but then stopped. "Um…wasn't Natsu the one who suggested we shouldn't hang out? You know with Gajeel, Levy, and Mira all being absent?"

Jellal paused for a moment and shrugged. "Well…you know Natsu."

Erza stopped and looked him in the eye. She then cracked a smile. "I suppose you're right. After all it's even silly that he's texting you a whole night later." She turned back around and happily finished her last plate as Jellal sat with an empty expression on his face.

"Yes…it is a strange thing indeed."

Now, we finally arrive in the apartment of Natsu and Wendy Dragneel. Natsu and Romeo Conbolt were playing a fighting video game on his super large, flat-screen TV, while Lucy and Wendy were sitting at the round dining room table with Lucy's laptop, using it to video chat with a good school friend of there's.

"Yukino that is so exciting! I'm really glad you like it there! So is it safe to say you'll be attending Saber City College this fall?" She winked at her best friend through the webcam.

Yukino delivered a shy smile as she messaged Lucy from her hotel room in Saber City. "Well, I hate to jinx anything, but…yes! I really do love it here! After all their nursing program in the number one of its kind in Fiore!"

"Yay! I'm super happy for you!" Lucy clapped her hands, and Wendy showed off a supporting smile.

Meanwhile Natsu rolled his eyes, and Romeo was left in an awkward situation as the game suddenly paused. After pausing it, Natsu then decided to get up for a moment, and as he did, he placed the controllers in Romeo's hands, and un-plugged the system from the TV. "We're gonna be right back. Moving into my room for an hour or so…or however long that video chat is gonna take."

"Uh w-we are...?" Romeo looked at a giggling Wendy, and Natsu used his other hand to grab Romeo by the collar and drug him back to the other room.

Lucy stuck her tongue out at Nastu, while Wendy then leaned over to look at Yukino. "I'm happy for you too, Yukino! It sounds amazing there!

Yukino started to blush with all the support from her friends. "Awe, you both are far too kind…anyway that's all I had to say."

Before she shut down the call, Lucy started to smile. "Hold on, that's not all…Meldy told me you met a few people while you were in town?"

Yukino forced a very embarrassed smile as she tried covering it up. "O-oh I have no idea what you…"

"Ah come on!" Lucy begged. "Go ahead and tell us before Natsu comes in…you met a boy didn't you?"

Yukino brought her legs closer to her chest as she sat on her hotel bed and began to smile further. "Um...yes, I may have met a nice guy while I was out with a group of people I met in the program. We went out for drinks, and there he was…hehe."

Lucy and Wendy laughed, and hugged each other while Lucy took the lead. "I'm so hearing more about this! What's he like? Is he a student?"

Yukino wanted to go ahead and tell her, but her expression seemed to go sour rather quick. "Um, he's not a student."

Lucy interrupted her. "Well tell him the Tigers will be in Magnolia at the end of the month! He can by you tickets to the end of the season finale here in town!"

Yukino started to look guilty. "Um, actually…he already did."

"O-oh." Lucy was taken back a bit. "Well, will I get to meet him?"

"Well, maybe…?" Yukino started to slow her conversation down. "He'll actually be playing in the game?"

"Really…?" Lucy had to collect the thought for a moment, but as soon as Wendy saw the look in Yukino's eyes, her own grew three times their normal size.

"Oh no…Yukino is it who I think it is?" Wendy didn't want to ask, but now Lucy was curious as to who they were referring to.

Yukino took a large gulp and mustered enough courage to explain her new date. "Well…let's just say he doesn't get along with Natsu very well…and it also might be Sting Eucliffe."

Well there were a lot of activities, and we're getting into some time-skips now! Just trying to keep things from getting too boring in the mid-winter zone.

1.) Jude...just what the hell are you doing? (FYI: "Mr. Cream" and "Veronica" both come from the Fairy Tail Movie: Phoenix Priestess)

2.) GaLe seem like they had a good night. Gajeel keeps getting in trouble, but Levy enjoys bailing him out...

...Guys am I doing GaLe alright!? I've gotten at least one comment for the other main ships, and I know GaLe is pretty mellow to begin with (both in real Fairy Tail and in my story), but I'm just wondering. I'll be honest they're not supposed to be the dramatic couple, more of the normal one...which isn't a bad thing.

3.) Miraxus! I see Laxus is still fiddling with his certain romantic plan. I wonder what he'll end up deciding...?

4.) Gruvia...GOD DAMN IT, IS BORA BACK!? We'll find more out eventually!

5.) Jerza...GOD DAMN IT, IS MINERVA BACK!? We'll find more out eventually! ...actually that one is a definite yes.

6.) NaLu and RoWen had a boring night, cause the next chapter will involve them (one more than the other, sadly.) Judging by the conversation between Lucy, Wendy, and Yukino I feel like you all know what will happen...

Okay fun! the story will slowly shift into the early playoffs from here! Guys I really want to end this by the end of the month, so hopefully I'll remain timely for chapter releases! Until next time!

Review and comment?