Natsu and Lucy left for the In-Between. Gray and Juvia just stayed behind to help Wendy keep the hell hound under control. They couldn't believe how gentle and well behaved the demonic dog was behaving around Wendy. It acted like it didn't have a mean bone in it's body.
"I just don't understand this." Gray said. "Why is being so sweet of all of sudden?"
"I don't know." Wendy said. "But I hope Natsu and Lucy hurry back. If I don't go back to the living room soon my parents are going to get suspicious."
Unfortunately that happened sooner than she thought. She could already hear her parents calling her name.
"Oh no." She said. "I have to get back down there."
"No way are you leaving us alone with this thing!" Gray said.
"I'll be right back Gray. You and I know both know that if Mom and Dad come up here things will only get worse. Besides I think he's gone to sleep now."
Indeed it had fallen asleep.
"I guess if it's sleeping then there's no harm and leaving him alone for a little while." Juvia said.
"Great."
Wendy carefully slid out from under the hound. To her relief the hound did not wake. She then quietly left the flat and went into the living room.
"Wendy there you are." Jellal said. "What took you so long?"
"I couldn't find anything snack wise." She lied.
"But you weren't in the kitchen. I checked."
"Oh I...I...I heard a strange noise and I wanted to see what it was." Technically not a lie.
"Oh I see. Well honey your mother pulled out the photo albums. Let's take a walk down memory lane."
"Okay."
As for Gray and Juvia the two of them just stood in fearful silence. Hoping that the sleeping hell hound would not wake.
"Gray." She whispered. "I'm scared."
"I'm scared too." He whispered back. "But we should be fine as long as we're quiet."
"Hey while we have a moment alone I would like to ask you something."
"What?"
"Well back there...When the dog was pulling on my skirt." Gray became stiff when he realized what she was talking about. "You...You peeked right?"
"Uh...I...I wouldn't exactly call it peeking. I mean...It was more like an accidental glance...I apologise for doing such an uncouth act but it was unintentional I assure you."
"No one else saw right?"
"No."
"You won't tell anyone you saw right?"
"I wouldn't dare."
"I don't think a man has ever seen any part of me that I keep under wraps."
"Believe me I found no pleasure in seeing your drawers...Duh! Not that you're lower area isn't lovely. No wait! Oh God that makes me sound so depraved. I mean! I mean! Oh I'm just digging myself a bigger hole aren't I?"
"Uhhhh..." Juvia said not sure how to respond to his words. "Listen I know it was an accident so I won't hold it against you."
"Good."
"But I don't think Lucy will be so understanding about it so I won't mention it to her. She thinks all men are perverts."
"If I may ask, do you have any idea why she has such a low opinion of men."
"I wouldn't know. I've asked her about it but she doesn't know either. She just feels this instinctual dislike of the opposite sex. I think it might have something to do with how she died."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well she doesn't know why she dislikes men and yet she feels the need to dislike them. I figured if we have a certain emotion about something but we don't why and yet it feels instinctual that we feel that way about a certain thing it must be because of something from our lives. For example some years back I saw a young couple walking by the house late at night. I suppose they were hiking or something like that and they decided to dance with each other even though there was no music and as I was watching them I started to cry."
"Why?"
"That's the thing I don't know. But watching them made me so very sad. Sad enough to shed tears which I found rather odd at first because I didn't think I could shed tears anymore."
"I'm not surprised. They say that the dead are the ones who feel the most sadness."
"Still it was so strange. I just couldn't stop feeling sad and I didn't know why."
"Well I don't know what's so sad about dancing. Unless in life you dreamed of becoming a dancer only to find out that you have no rhythm."
"I don't remember what happened before I died but I'm sure that's not why I was crying. Does anything like that ever happen to you?"
"No. Not at all."
"I guess that just makes me a oddball huh? It's so frustrating you know? Feeling something for a certain thing and not having the slightest idea why."
Gray looked around the area to make sure that no one else was around to hear them. And by no one else he meant Natsu because if he knew about this he'd never let him stop hearing about it.
"Okay I don't know why I'm telling you this but you have to keep it a secret okay?"
"Keep what a secret?"
"I lied. I actually have had something like what you're talking about."
"Really? What is it?"
"Swear that you won't tell anyone."
"I swear I won't."
"Alright so the thing is...Every year on one particular day, at night I start to cry."
"You cry?"
"Yes but it's only on that one day."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. What day is it?"
"I'm not telling but on that day just before I go to bed I start crying and I don't know why. It's like I can't stop myself. I feel this horrible feeling in my heart...If I still have one and I just can't figure out the reason behind it."
"Oh Gray."
"Remember this is our little secret. You tell no one about this especially Natsu. If he ever knew that I got teary eyed he would mock me about it for the rest of my afterlife."
"I won't say a word." She assured him. "If there's one thing I can do it's keep a secret."