It looks so spongy and moist! I don't know if I can eat it. It's too beautiful to want to devour. Titania continued to poke the strawberry cake with her fork, a certain gleam in her eye as she did so.
The owner of her favorite bakery knew exactly how to make Erza happy. The mage was in there on 'official' business, needing several cakes and pastries. Buying enough to feed a small village, the shop owner graciously offered her one of her favorite cakes for free.
After taking the rest home to her freezer, this little piece decided to make it all the way to Fairy Tail.
Taking a bite of her strawberry cream cake, Titania threw her head back at all of the wonderful flavors melting together on her tongue. It was one of the most delicious things the scarlet maiden had ever had the pleasure to eat!
"You're the only one I know that looks at cake like that." The Ice Mage came from behind Erza, chuckling as he sat down. "It's barely noon, isn't it a little early for dessert?"
The scarlet haired woman looked at Gray with the most serious look. Daggers were flying out of her eyes at the offending wizard. "It's never too early for strawberry cream cake!"
"Okay! Okay!" The Ice wizard put his hands up in surrender. He didn't realize how intense she could get about her sweets. "It's not like I was trying to take it from you." Gray chuckled.
The guild hall had been so quiet this morning, everyone turned to watch the outburst. Some of the members were silently hoping for a fight to break out. With so many of the members being on missions at the moment, Fairy Tail seemed pretty dull these days.
Why did my sweet, darling Gray sit with Erza?! Juvia glared at the scarlet maiden from across the room. I've been here almost all morning and I haven't gotten so much as a hello from my love. Moving her head from behind the pillar, she observed her love's behavior as the two chat.
"Things have been pretty quiet lately..' The Ice wizard mentioned as he leaned back in his chair. "Have you seen Lucy? It feels like I haven't seen her in weeks."
"He's always talking about Lucy!" The water mage said more aloud than to herself.
"She's been taking jobs with Levy and Wendy, I believe." Erza mentioned between bites of her cake. "Did you hear something?" Titania looked around for a minute, causing Juvia to hide once again. The two wizards shrug before the scarlet haired mage continues.
"The girls have been getting rather close, it stands to reason Lucy would want to take jobs with her other friends." Erza shrugged.
"I know, it's just weird to not see her tied to Natsu's hip." Gray commented as he looked around the guild hall. "Speaking of the flame brain, I haven't seen him in a few days either."
"I think the last time I saw Salamander was the Fairy Tail party, almost a week ago." Titania's brow furrowed. It was a little strange that Natsu and Lucy weren't together, but it wasn't any concern of Erza's. How the two wizards handled their personal lives were their business. As long as it didn't interfere with their team or a mission, they were free to do as they pleased.
"It seems our time in Edolas has changed the guild more than we could've imagined."
"How so?" The ice wizard questioned.
Erza smiled, cleaning the last of the icing off her plate with the fork. "I think it puts a lot of things into perspective for the wizards here in Earthland. Being in a world without magic power had to have changed them in some way, don't you think?"
"I guess…" Gray shrugged, looking towards the ceiling. "I'm glad I never had to deal with any of that. Gajeel gave us those X-balls, and magic power wasn't a problem. Who knows how the fights would've turned out if we weren't able to use our powers at all.
"For those that didn't receive that initial boost, I think it left them wondering if there was a secret to the power in Edolas." The scarlet maiden pondered, leaning her elbows against the table. "The wizards there were so strong willed, just like us. However, without the magic power flowing within them, they had to find ways to improvise. What they created out of the chaos was something truly inspiring."
Erza had a gleam in her eyes Gray hadn't noticed before as she continued. "It makes me want to train harder than ever before, and I think it had the same effect on several of our friends."
"Yeah…. I just wish the guild hall wasn't so quiet. It's weird not having at least something going on around here."
As the Ice Wizard spoke, Erza noticed the front doors of the guild hall open. Happy flew through the doors. The Exceed looked confused as he gazed around the tables, searching for a Dragon Slayer. Once he caught sight of Gray and Titania, the little blue cat flew towards them quickly.
"Hey guys, have you seen Natsu?"
"We were expecting him to be with you, Happy." The ice mage smiled. "Did you lose him?"
Instead of laughing, the Exceed looked even more concerned. "No… He left me a note, saying he would meet me at the guild hall in the morning."
Now it was Gray's turn to look confused. "I haven't seen him, and I've been here most of the morning."
"Was there anything else in the note, Happy?" Erza questioned, gaining a serious tone.
Reaching into his backpack, the little blue cat handed the note over to the scarlet maiden. "I brought it with me. He said something about a walk, but that didn't make sense."
"Why?" Gray asked curiously.
"We got home pretty late last night. Why go on a walk when it's completely dark out? It's not like him to do that."
Raising a brow, Erza examined the note in more detail. Before she could raise any questions, the front doors opened once again. "I can see why you're worried, Happy. However, it doesn't look like you have to fret." Gesturing behind her, Titania chuckled as she watched Natsu and Lucy walk into the guild hall.
Seeing a glowing smile on both of their faces made the scarlet haired mage raise a brow. It wasn't like the two of them to act this 'friendly' towards each other. The two were nearly holding hands as they walked to the table.
"NATSU! I was so worried about you!" The exceed flew towards his best friend. As he approached, the blue cat noticed the other person next to the Dragon Slayer. "Lucy? When did you get back?"
"I got home yesterday." The Celestial mage looked towards the little blue cat. She waved hello and greeted him with a bright smile. "It's good to see you!"
"Why were you worried, little buddy? I left you a note!" The pink haired wizard
"I told you he was going to worry about you!" Lucy smirked, watching the Dragon Slayer roll his eyes and take his seat next to Gray.
The exceed decided to let it go, perching himself on top of his best friend. "How was your mission, Lucy?"
"We had a great weekend." The Celestial mage placed her elbows on the table, leaning in. "Levy, Lily and I made quick work of the job at the research library. After that, we spent the weekend in Hosenka. It was so relaxing, and they had some kind of festival going on! There were several food vendors, carnival rides, and shops opening on the streets."
"That sounds lovely." Erza smiled next to her. "It's been a long time since I've taken a trip to the spa town. I'm due for a session in the hot springs!"
"Ooh! I was just thinking the same thing!" Wendy mentions as she walks up to the group. "Carla and I were just talking about going for the day. Would you like to go with us? The plan is to leave tomorrow morning."
"I would love to." The scarlet maiden grinned excitedly. "Thank you for the invitation. I'm going to go get ready!"
Erza quickly got up from her seat, all but running out of the guild hall. The Sky Dragon Slayer took her place at the table.
"What are you guys up to?" Wendy asked curiously.
The Ice mage was the first to speak. "I'm thinking about taking a job. I just need to actually get up and go to the request board."
"I have the perfect job, my love!" Juvia interrupted, causing nearly everyone to jump in surprise.
"Jeez! What's with you?" Gray turned, giving her a stern look. "You scared me half to death."
All the color drained from the water mage's face. Her heart began to pound as she began to stammer. "I-I uh… I found this posting. I thought it would be perfect for you Gray."
Taking the piece of paper from her, the Ice mage raised a brow. A village in the mountains was having issues with a fire monster. It was causing immense amounts of damage.
"That sounds like a great one. Thanks Juvia." The corner's of Gray's lips turned up. "I'm guessing there's a catch here?"
"Well… I would like to go with you.." The water mage swayed back and forth. "If that's okay!"
"Yeah, I guess you can tag along." Standing from the table, the ice mage walks up to the bar.
"It looks like everyone is going out of town." Lucy mentioned, looking between the two Dragon Slayers. "I should probably look at the request board too."
"Actually…" Fumbling in his pockets for a moment, Natsu attempts to grab the piece of paper. Once he pulls it out, the Dragon Slayer slams it onto the table. "I found this one! The second I noticed the reward, I knew it'd be perfect for you!"
Taking the job flier, Lucy examined it. She'd never seen this key before. Raising a brow, the Celestial Mage looked at Natsu. "How long have you been holding onto this?"
"I just got it yesterday?" The Fire Dragon Slayer gave her an identical look. "The second I saw the reward was a key along with some jewel, I snagged it."
"Have you missed going on missions with me, Natsu?" A heat rose to Lucy's cheeks as she smirked. Looking at the pink haired wizard in front of her, she noticed his face was also turning a deep shade of red.
"I-I just… You've been going on a lot of missions lately, and I just wanted to secure my spot in line." The Dragon Slayer chuckled nervously. "I miss going on jobs with you."
"Let's do it then." Lucy said excitedly.
"I'm gonna tell Mira we're taking this one." As Natsu got up, his hand brushed against the Celestial Mage's, causing a tingle to run through her fingertips. The blush only intensified on her cheeks.
None of this was lost on the Sky Dragon Slayer. As she approached the table before, she noticed Lucy smelled different. Even though it'd been a few days since they've seen each other, a human's scent rarely changes. After her talk with Gajeel, the young Dragon Slayer began to wonder if Natsu has begun the Unity Spell with Lucy. Looking at the Celestial Mage, Wendy thought of how to phrase her question.
"How are you Wendy?" Lucy inquired, pulling the young girl out of her thoughts.
"I'm well." The Sky Dragon Slayer commented. "What about you? You seem different this morning."
"Different?" The blonde tried to brush it off the best she could. However, images began flooding her brain of the night before. A smile crept onto Lucy's face as she tried to hide it. "What do you mean?"
Wendy's eyes widened as she raised a brow. She wasn't expecting Lucy to become so embarrassed by her observation. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything bad.. It's just. After our last talk, you seemed pretty down.. Today, you can't stop smiling."
"I was going to tell Levy first…" The Celestial mage admitted. "She's the one I tell everything to."
"Oh, please don't let me ruin that for you!" A blush rose to Wendy's cheeks. She wished more than anything she could restart this whole conversation.
"I don't mind, Wendy." Lucy grinned. "I don't see Levy here, and franky I'm dying to tell someone. Just promise not to tell anyone, okay? Not even Carla."
"Oooh…" The Sky Dragon Slayer snickered. "It must be good if you're asking me to keep it that safe."
"It is. I just don't know where to begin."
"How about from the beginning?" Wendy laughed.
"Okay… Well, I was just with Levy last night. After our mission was over, we came back to my apartment and chatted for a while. She left sometime around eleven o'clock. I get ready for bed and when I get out of the shower, Natsu is in my room."
"What did he want?" The Sky Dragon Slayer asked curiously.
"He said it'd been a while since we'd seen each other. We stay up most of the night talking. After we finished talking, one thing led to another… and… " Lucy's cheeks were almost turning purple with how dark they were getting.
A look of pure shock radiated over Wendy's features. "NO WAY!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the two ladies, including Mira and Natsu. The young Dragon Slayer immediately covered her mouth and bowed her head close to the table. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to disappear.
"Nice…" Lucy couldn't help but laugh, patting Wendy's back. "Just make sure not to tell anyone why you made that little outburst."
"I'm terribly sorry…"
"Don't beat yourself up about it." Lucy smiled. "It was some pretty big news."
"What was that about?" The Fire Dragon Slayer questioned as he walked back up to the girls.
"Nothing!" Both of them say in unison, making Natsu raise his brow.
"Okayy.. Well, I'm gonna get us packed for tomorrow." The pink haired wizard smiled at Lucy. "We'll meet you here at eight o'clock?"
"That's early!" Happy complained, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Sounds good." The Celestial mage was unable to stop the giggle that escaped her lips. She wasn't able to look at him when he smiled like that. Every time she did, the butterflies overtook her stomach.
"Perfect, we'll be here." Natsu waved goodbye to the girls before he turned and headed to the doors.
