Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and the characters are owned by Hiro Mashima. I own this story based on Mashima's work

The night of the ball - Part 1

A/N: I really feel like I needed a beta reader for this one. I'm not sure if what I want to say got across at all! Please let me know if this worked and what continues to be confusing. I'll try to update the chapter or answer anything that's still confusing in later on.

"Lucy, sorry," Natsu said steadily, his hand pressing into the small desk at his side. "But I'm not doing it. I'm not going."

Lucy gazed him, uncertain about what had come over him. It was only a cocktail party. What could be the big deal?

They were in the Dragneel Suite at the Club. The family rarely used the room, but it was the only place Natsu could think of where they could get some privacy for their first serious fight.

His girlfriend pushed forward, trying to at least understand the change in his mood. "Natsu, I know it'll just be a bunch of stuffy ol geezers in suits, but -"

"Lucy, I'm not going," Natsu stressed, cutting her off. "I'm sorry. That's my answer. Can you just accept it? Please?"

Lucy stayed silent. He hadn't raised his voice but she could feel, yet again, that this subject was not up for discussion.

And it hurt.

Even if he wasn't acting angry, the distance between them was still there - and it was getting wider the longer this conversation was not resolved. Lucy swallowed dryly and turned her eyes towards the window which overlooked Warrod's Woodlands.

It had started on Monday. This was the interns' sixth week at Fairy Tail. On Friday the Club was planning to host its most prestigious annual event. It was simply called, 'The Fairy Festival'. High ranking executives from businesses all across Fiore were expected at Fairy Tail, even those belonging to other Country Clubs. It was an opportunity to come together to celebrate successes from the past year, to socialise, to network and, importantly, to develop future business.

It was totally high society, and the interns had been asked to work on the night. This was their opportunity to make important connections for their future. They were informed that they would be introduced as the winners of the 4th Dragneel-Scarlett Summer Internship and Makarov had strongly advised that they mingle and make a good impression on as many people as they could. In fact, Erza had confided that their working on the night was really an excuse to help them to circulate the room more easily.

During the week they'd received classes on presenting themselves, delivering personal elevator pitches, networking, protocol and general behaviour in "civilised society". Makarov himself had led the one-to-one sessions, and Lucy had cringed at every one of them. It was all so fake. All these mock conversations and counterfeit relationships.

But the world was built on this artificiality. It was a grim truth that Lucy had learnt early in life.

As if recalling that ugly truth wasn't enough, Lucy soon realised that Makarov's training was resurrecting some of her darkest memories. She could feel them bubbling inside her, their long silhouettes crawling out of the deepest parts of her being, crossing the boundary from her nightmares into her waking life.

Even worse than that, was the cruel realisation that she didn't need Makarov's training. She'd remembered how to act in this charade. Her mask had slipped on easily. Much too easily.

The absolute worst truth was when Makarov met her eyes and, in the kindest, most sincere voice, had told her that she was a natural. That if he didn't know any better, he'd say she belonged in this world. He'd even snickered and asked her to spend some time with the Dragneel boy and teach him a thing or ten about propriety.

That had not made her feel good at all. In fact, it had made her sick.

Sick - that after all these years that girl was still inside her.

Sick - to have to relive it all over again; to feel the contempt and the arrogance frothing behind plastered smiles and flawless etiquette.

Sick - that she would have to play this game again; dancing obediently to the cracks of some pretentious handler's glamorous whip.

Their judging eyes … they were everywhere, slowly siphoning the air out of her. And when all the air was gone, they ground together everything that was left.

It made her sick.

They made her sick.

Everything was just making her sick.

It was the Dragneel boy who'd rushed her out of the gym to the Dragneel Suite the day before. It was the Dragneel boy who'd sat flat on the bathroom floor with her, holding her hair and rubbing her back while all the years of sick came to the surface. It was the Dragneel boy who'd caught her when she sagged, exhausted from battle.

And it was the Dragneel boy who'd accepted her obvious lie that nothing was wrong; that she'd just eaten something bad.

The same Dragneel boy they'd said lacked civilities.

It was only when she was laying on the bed after releasing all that sick, Natsu sitting quietly next to her, that she'd brought up the party. That was when he'd told her that he wasn't going.

She hadn't expected that. She could feel the air being sucked out of her all over again.

The vision of Natsu pulling her over the threshold of Fairy Tail's lakeside retreat on their first date had appeared in her mind then.

He never pushed her. Not once did he push her. He always pulled her along with him.

She hadn't realised how much she'd come to depend on that kindness. The kindness that always pulled her forward. She realised then just how much Natsu gave her strength. And how much she needed him to be at the party on Friday.

But when she'd asked him to come, he'd just said 'no'. Just 'no'. Nothing more. As if it was already decided and there was no changing his mind.

Lucy'd tried a few times to understand what was wrong, but Natsu had blocked her every time. He wasn't coming to the party. And it was not up for discussion.

That was when the tension between them had started.

She'd spent much of the night before thinking about what had happened between them. Eventually, she decided to try to convince Natsu one last time. The party was the next day, she wouldn't have any other chance.

That's how they ended up like this, silent and avoiding each other's eyes, neither knowing what to say next.

As her eyes drifted over Warrod's Woodlands Lucy decided to be honest with him. If he knew why she wanted him to go to the party, maybe they could start to bridge the gap between them. Before she could speak, though, Natsu moved over to her and took her hand. He led her to the sofa and sat down, pulling her gently beside him. She noticed that he looked distant and sad.

"Lucy," he started after a while, not letting go of her hand, "Mirajane's mom and my dad don't get along. Like at all," he confessed, as if this was something that was hard for him to say.

"We, the kids, have always been close. When we were younger, Lisanna and I were much closer, we were practically inseparable. I used to go over to their house all the time after school. I liked her mom a lot, she treated me really nice."

He kept his eyes trained on his girlfriend's knees as they spoke, as if facing her was the hardest thing for him to do.

"You know that the Strauss' have a huge entertainment empire, right?"

Natsu didn't wait for Lucy to respond before continuing. He just carried on, his mind focused more on the memory than the girl next to him.

"Take Over," he mused quietly.

"A few years ago, they were really close to closing a huge deal for them. They wanted some struggling independent music company. It really wasn't a big deal - just another acquisition. But it was strategic for Take Over. They wanted to get into that market. When the deal was pretty close to closing, my dad and the head of the independent label - Atlas Records - out of nowhere, announced a partnership. It wasn't a buy-out, it was an investment."

"Take Over publicly accused Dragneel Media of interfering in their negotiations. Dad didn't get involved in the whole circus. He said Take Over's businesses were directly behind all the negative publicity. If he got involved it would only create an even bigger media shit storm. So he kept his distance and waited for the dust to settle. Atlas Records put out Press Release saying that they had come to Dragneel Media with an investment proposal. Their PR team said that negotiations between Take Over and Atlas weren't actually progressing. Take Over weren't bending on their terms. Dragneel Media offered financial backing and strategic support, but wouldn't take away Atlas' decision-making freedom. So they went with us."

Natsu sighed loudly.

"Take Over's Press Team had a field day. They said Atlas Records was undermining them and painting them as bullies in the industry. It got ugly. Really ugly. The press storm eventually settled. But right after that Atlas exploded in the market. They now own a huge share of the indie rock market that Take Over keep failing to get into. The talk about competition and bad blood between Take Over, Atlas Records and Dragneel Media has never really died."

"Lisanna said her mom told her that this whole thing was just business. It wasn't personal. And we kids remained close friends. The problem with our parents was their problem, not ours. But I never went to Lisanna's house after that, and she never came to mine. We've never seen each other's parents since that happened. And we avoid any situation where each other's parents would be. Like the party tonight. If something happened and shit blew up, all my dad's work staying out of it would be for nothing."

Natsu looked up, finally meeting his girlfriend's eyes. He squeezed her hand gently.

His eyes were begging her not to ask him again.

"Lucy, Gajeel and Metalicana will be representing me and dad tonight. Is that okay?"

Lucy let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She nodded into his shoulder.

"Yeah," she murmured, not letting him go. "I'm really sorry for pushing you, Natsu."

§§§

"Where are you guys?" Natsu texted his friends later that day. Now that all the tension with Lucy was over, he wanted to have fun with everyone before he headed back to the house. He searched all their usual Clubside haunts but he couldn't find anyone. He'd just about had it.

After a long time he heard from Erza. "We're in the restaurant," she texted.

The restaurant? Why would they be in the restaurant? It's closed. Everyone's preparing for tonight.

When Natsu came to the restaurant he found the door ajar. Opening it, he saw Jellal and Erza standing in front of each other holding hands, their eyes locked in an embrace that didn't reach all the way down to their arms.

Natsu blinked and tried to shake the image. It didn't budge.

Did I just walk into some bizarre alternate universe?

Behind them, was Levy and Gajeel. They were hunched closely over some notes. Their heads touching slightly.

The restaurant was otherwise empty.

Natsu looked back into the corridor and blinked. When he looked back inside it was the same scene, except Gajeel's hand was tapping Levy's head lightly.

The confused boy walked in silently, as if he was stepping into a room of sleeping tigers, fearful of waking any one of them up.

As he approached, he heard Erza's raised voice.

"No, no, no, you have to keep eye contact. And why are your hands so clammy. People hate a clammy handshake! Make sure your hands are dry. Okay? Dry hands. Always."

Ah, training, Natsu realised, the world suddenly starting to make some sense.

"If you've heard enough and are ready to move on," Erza continued, now in her zone, "just say you have to get back to the kitchen or you have customers waiting and make a nice, inoffensive escape. If you're finding it hard, just signal me and I can call you over. It'll give you an easy exit."

A very pale Jellal nodded, obviously grateful to know he'd have some back up in the room.

A sharp squeak behind them drew Natsu's eyes to Levy who was biting her nails as she studied the room plans that Gajeel had made. She looked terrified. It was the same look she'd worn the first night she'd come to Fairy Tail - overwhelmed and petrified.

It was the same look that Lucy had that night - and that time at the lakeside retreat.

Natsu's heart plummeted to his feet. He watched as Levy's shaking hands flew to her face. She looked on the verge of tears.

Gajeel only looked at her reassuringly.

"It'll be fine, Shortie. You don't have to worry. I'll be right there. And I'll be watching you. If I see you're uncomfortable or in any trouble, I'll be there."

And with those words, all the blood drained from Natsu's face. He gathered what remaining energy he had and scampered out of the room, Erza's voice calling after him.

He ignored the redhead and just kept running.

Lucy's breakdown from the day before, all her irrational questions about coming to the party, they were all starting to make sense.

She's anxious, Natsu realised.

All this time she's been scared and he was so wrapped up in himself and all the shit with Lisanna's mom, he didn't notice it at all.

The girl whose feelings mattered most to him had come to him for help, and all he'd done was complain. He couldn't understand why she was being so unreasonable. Not once did he try to see it from her eyes.

His unspoken promise to Macao surfaced in his mind.

Fairy Tail may not be Lucy's world, but it's mine. And I'll protect her.

Natsu ran and ran, past the elevators, down the flights of stairs, out the side doors of Fairy Tail.

The fresh air hit him instantly. That was when he finally stopped and collapsed on the grass, breathing hard.

I am such an ass!

§§§

Jellal glanced at Erza as they picked up their things. Gajeel and Levy had long left.

He never thought the day would come when he and Erza would speak so freely with each other. But over the past week, bit by bit, they had been crossing the abyss between them, and for the first time, he was not fighting it. He wanted to make his way through the smog - on his hands and knees if that's what he needed to do - and find his way to the other side … to where Erza was standing.

He still had a lot he needed to do for himself first, but he would make it across.

Jellal recalled how over a week ago Erza had called him back to Makarov's office after she and Natsu had spoken to him.

He had been walking down the corridor when he heard his name. He had turned to see Erza looking at him from Makarov's office door.

"The cakes," she'd practically shouted at him, her face burning red. "I don't want to eat them alone."

Jellal's body had accepted her offer long before his brain even had a chance to process her words. Apparently, regardless of what his head thought, the rest of him was going to say 'yes'.

The first cake had been awkward, neither knowing how to speak or what to say. Not even ordinary conversation - comments about the weather or questions about the internship - passed between them.

Even if they wanted to move beyond the past, they didn't know how.

How does one start on the journey towards healing? Where is that road?

Neither knew.

But for the first time in three years, neither was searching alone.

Not wanting to move forward without dealing with the past, Erza had broken the silence and asked Jellal to talk about what had happened to him. In his words.

And he had described it, his tears falling freely. He was ashamed to be crying when he was the one who had sinned, but once he'd started, the tears just fell and fell.

When he finally looked up, Erza's face was soaking wet. She had been crying through it all with him.

That's when he'd asked her about what had happened to her that night, and everything she'd been through since. He wanted to know it all.

And like that, one by one, they unwrapped the tender little packages that contained their suffering and shared it with each other.

Without realising it, they'd started on the journey forward.

They'd stayed like that, sharing and crying until, even if they wanted to cry, their bodies had nothing more to give. Until all that followed was a deep, enduring silence.

"Jellal," Erza'd eventually said, breaking the stillness. "You've paid for your part in that crime. If you want to atone for the choice you made at that time, this isn't the way to do it. You don't atone by living in misery, by tormenting yourself like this. This atonement in shame is not atonement at all. It's dishonorable - to everyone. You atone by getting up, accepting the past, forgiving yourself and living each day with a purpose. That's the honorable way to make amends to the world and to find peace with yourself."

Jellal only remembered seeing one thing at that time.

Erza's brilliant red hair.

Each thread shimmered with her special scarlet light. Together they glowed brilliantly in the sleek oak paneled office. Gradually, they enveloped the room, encasing him in their radiance. He could feel their heat moving through him, penetrating his depths. For a moment it was as if, from just the light of her hair, he could be cleansed.

It was beautiful.

Erza's light effusing from her brilliant red hair.

It was so beautiful.

So strong. So fearless. So just. So kind.

Her light was a haven for him.

Jellal looked up as Erza made to leave the restaurant, her smile matching the brightness of her hair. The burst of feeling that mere smile unleashed in him hit him unprepared.

In that moment of unrestrained vulnerability Jellal reached out to her retreating back and pulled her to his chest.

The stunned, embarrassed girl stuttered his name, but did not pull away.

Only once before had she ever felt like this: like a girl.

And not just any girl. Erza felt that careless vulnerability of a girl being treasured.

A small, sorrowful smile graced her face. This was the second time he'd broken through her walls and found the undefended girl inside.

This time though, it was different. All around her she could feel his own undefended heart drawing her in. This time, they were both meeting each other without any armor whatsoever.

"Thank you, Erza," the boy whispered before releasing her.

§§§

Lucy, Levy and Jellal waited patiently for Makarov to finish his speech. It was the old man's final lesson before the party later that evening, but his students didn't hear a word of it. They were busy running other lessons and 'what ifs' over and over in their head.

This wasn't a case of a few nervous butterflies. This was a full on seasonal migration.

For Lucy though, this was not just nerves. This night would be the culmination of a war she'd been fighting all her life. She'd thought that she'd already been victorious, but the war had been waging on silently inside her all these years. She had realised that over the course of the week as, one by one, her demons woke and resumed their mission to subdue her completely.

The feeling was so familiar. That feeling of being slowly swallowed up by advancing shadows. No matter how many times she purged them, they just kept advancing.

She looked at Levy and Jellal. All their futures depended on her putting on the best performance of her life tonight. She wouldn't disappoint them. Tonight, she would face her demons head on. She may not conquer them, she may not even come close, but she would finally start fighting back.

As she summoned her nerve, her mind once again found Thunder. She went back to that day over a week ago when, after all this time, she held her precious childhood companion in her arms.

Lucy never thought she would see him again. She never let herself hope or dream of seeing him again. How could she ever see him again? It was impossible.

Beast, along with the rest of her father's estate, was sold off when Lucy and Levy moved in with the Conbolts. Lucy had always felt as if she'd betrayed him. As if she'd left him there to be sold off as property, as one would sell a used sofa or a TV. After all his loyalty and trust, after all he'd given to her, she'd just abandoned him.

The guilt of deserting Beast had always tormented Lucy, and last week, after years of being haunted by his trusting eyes, she finally got the chance to tell him she was sorry. The two words she'd always wanted to say to him.

But as she'd held on to him and heard his soft, playful nicker, Lucy realised that Thunder had never treated her any differently from Beast. Regardless of everything that had happened, she was still special to him. Lucy knew he had memories, probably not in the same way she had memories, but he had his own kind of memories. And Thunder had behaved with her as Beast had always done. No matter what had happened, his mind had never processed her scent as bad. For Thunder, Lucy's scent was still good. Her scent was still that of a friend. It was still a scent he trusted. Lucy hadn't hurt him after all.

As she held on to Thunder and experienced his unconditional trust, Lucy was finally able to let go of one of her demons.

And with that she learned how she could defeat them.

One by one she would face them, and one by one she would find a way to make peace with them. She would purify them and let them go.

"Miss Heartfilia," Makarov called, interrupting her thoughts.

Lucy woke from her reflective state to find that she was alone in Makarov's office.

"Sorry, what?"

Makarov watched her with a sympathetic expression.

"Your uniform for tonight, it's hanging over there." He nodded to the corner of the room.

Glancing towards the corner of the room, Lucy saw a plain black pencil skirt and a crisp white shirt hanging on a clothes rack. On the sleeve of the shirt was a pink band. She remembered Makarov saying that these would identify her as one of the winning interns for the night. Levy's band was orange and Jellal's was blue.

Natsu's hair immediately flashed in her mind, and a warm smile found itself on her lips. He couldn't be with her, but that pink band was going to be her power source for the night, helping her to summon the very depths of her courage.

"That's it for today," Makarov said finishing up. "You may go home now. Meet Aries outside the Main Banquet Hall at 6pm."

Lucy nodded and left the room. Makarov stared for a long time at the closed door behind her. The pity in his eyes was unmistakable.

"Don't let them beat you, Lucy."

A/N
Sorry this is up so late. I had to give an important talk this week and that took up a lot of time. On the upside the talk went great ＼(≧▽≦)／ I miss the energy and adrenaline of a room full of people though. Nothing can replace an in-person audience. Virus cases are up again though, so it looks like that's just a dream.

I've updated the summary for this story now that most of it is out of the bag. I hope this new summary better reflects the plot.

A long time ago someone actually mentioned that the companies in the Dragneel Group seemed to overlap with some of their friends' companies. I was like, 'Whaaattt? Readers of this story are super, super observant!" You guys are awesome! Seriously.

Anyway, I'm so, so, soooooooooo sleepy right now… zzzzzz... Till next time. Bye bye.

SpinalCoil