The three teenagers looked on in horror as their friend Lucy, who had now become some frightening creature devoured a fish that she had caught with her bear hands.
"Gray." Juvia whispered as she gently grasped his arm. "I'm scared."
"That's okay. I'm scared too." He said.
"Lucy?" Erza said with caution. "Is that you?"
The creature looked at them in a way that made them go stiff. She smiled at them like there was absolutely nothing wrong.
"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" She said.
"What happened to you?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Have you seen yourself?"
"Yes and I think that I look great."
"Do you see yourself as we see you?" Gray asked.
"Lucy you need to get out of the water right now." Juvia said.
"Why? It feels great. You all should come in."
"No thank you."
"Gray pull her out." Erza said.
"What? Why me?" Gray asked.
"Because if we get wet then we'll end up just like her. Do you want that to happen?"
"Okay you have a point there."
Gray grabbed hold of Lucy and started to pull her out, Juvia used her powers to make the water push Lucy out. Erza used her powers to steam the water on Lucy's body and dry her off.
"I'm starving." Lucy said. "I need food."
"You're still hungry?" Erza said.
"Let me back in the sea so I can catch fish for myself."
"No way are we letting you get back in the water." Gray said.
"As soon as you get your legs back we're taking you home." Juvia said.
"But I don't want to go home." Lucy whined. "I want to swim out to Tendrou Island."
"Not happening." Erza said.
Once Lucy was in her human form they made her get into Gray's car so he could drive them back to her house. But Lucy was determined to return to the sea so she froze the car battery which prevented the vehicle from starting up.
"Why isn't the car moving?" Erza asked.
"I don't know." Gray said. "I'll check under the hood."
"I'll help you. I have some experiences in machinery. Juvia you stay here and watch Lucy."
"Right." Juvia said.
Gray and Erza grabbed a flashlight then went outside to fix the car. Gray lifted up the hood and used a nearby stick to hold it up while Erza held the flashlight.
"Let me out Juvia." Lucy pleaded. "Please."
"No. I'm sorry Lucy but this is for your own good." She said.
"But the sea is calling me."
"You just need to calm down."
But Lucy wouldn't stop. She froze the stick holding the car hood up as intensely as she could which made the stick snap and the hood fall on top of Gray, she then froze the hood's edges of the car to keep him there at least for awhile.
"Gray!" Juvia screamed.
Erza immediately tried to lift the hood up.
"Get this thing off of me!" Gray shouted.
"I'm trying! But it's stuck!" Erza said.
Juvia ran out of the car and went to help Erza. With those three distracted, Lucy was able to slip out of the car and walk back to the beach.
"What's wrong with this thing? Why won't it budge?!" Juvia said.
"I don't know." Erza said. Then she saw the ice on the car edges. "Oh no! Lucy sealed the edge with ice!"
The girls love looked to see that the car was now completely empty.
"She's gone!" Juvia said.
"She did this as a diversion so she could run off." Erza realized.
"What do we do?"
"Hello! I'm still trapped under here!" Gray shouted.
"Sorry." Erza said. "Juvia you find Lucy, I'll get Gray out from under there."
Juvia ran back to the beach to search for Lucy while making sure that she didn't look at the moon. Erza stayed behind to melt the ice, holding the car hood. Lucy had gone off to the far end of the beach, ready to jump right back into the water when she spotted Natsu walking back from a late night surf.
"Natsu." She called with a flirty smile. "Over here Natsu."
"Lucy?" He said. "What are you doing out here this late?"
"Just taking a moon light stroll on the beach." She giggled and started to walk toward him. "You know I just feel terrible about leaving our date without even a goodbye to you."
"You do? I mean you're not mad at me? I wouldn't blame you if you were because it was a pretty lousy date."
"But that wasn't your fault."
"So you're not mad?"
"Not at all. I never was."
"Then why won't you talk to me? I try to call you and talk to you in school but you avoid me."
"That's not because I'm mad, it's because I'm embarrassed."
"Embarrassed?"
"Embarrassed by myself. I acted so silly and I thought that I would only act stupid again if I was ever around you. But I still feel awful about not saying goodbye. Let me make it up to you."
"How?" Natsu asked.
"Come closer."
He hesitated for a moment but did as she requested.
"Closer." She urged. "Closer."
He continued to come closer to her until she pulled him into a kiss. He was taken by surprise but he didn't break away and the next thing he knew they were making out. He couldn't believe she was actually kissing him and that she was letting him kiss her. He wasn't complaining about this mind you but after their catastrophic date, he figured that she didn't like him in that manner. Who knows how long it would have lasted if Juvia hadn't of walked in on them.
"Stop right there!" Juvia called.
"Busted." Natsu said pulling away from Lucy.
"What are you two doing?" Juvia asked.
"Nothing. Just kissing." Lucy giggled.
"Lucy we need to go now. If your Dad finds you gone he'll have a conniption."
"Let him have his conniption. I don't care."
"Lucy that's not like you." Natsu said. "Are you feeling alright?"
"No." Juvia said. "She's sick, she has a fever which is why we have to get her home now."
"We?"
"Erza, Gray, and I."
"Natsu would you like to swim with me to Tendrou Island?" Lucy asked. "It's very beautiful and romantic at night."
"No. You're going home." Juvia said.
"Do you girls need help getting back?"
"No thank you. Have a good night Natsu."
"Good night ladies."
"Good night Natsu." Lucy smiled.
Natsu left and he was the only thing keeping Lucy on land because as soon as he was gone Lucy jumped into the sea.
"Oh no you don't!"
Juvia manipulated the water to bring Lucy right back to the shore. By the time she did that, Erza and Gray had caught up with them. While Erza once again used her powers to dry Lucy off, Juvia tended to Gray's head which had been bumped by his car hood.
"How's your head Gray?" Juvia asked.
"It's got a bruise but I'll survive." He whispered back. "I swear if Lucy was a guy I would-"
"Gray it's not her fault."
"I guess..." He grumbled.
"Guys she won't change back." Erza said. "She should be dry by now but nothing's happening. Why isn't she changing back?"
"I don't know." Juvia said. "This is bad. This is very bad. What if she never changes back?"
"There's always the circus." Gray said earning him a glare from Juvia and Erza.
"Well one thing is for sure, we can't bring Lucy home like this." Erza said. "Which means we can't leave until she turns back."
"Great." Gray said sarcastically. "In that case we better get comfortable."
They ended up staying at the beach all night long and they fell asleep. In the morning when the moon set, Lucy finally turned back into a human. Erza woke up first and she was relieved to see that Lucy had her legs back. She also saw that Gray and Juvia were sleeping next to each other with their arms linked to each other.
"Oh this is just too cute." Erza pulled out her phone and took a picture of them.
Lucy woke up.
"What am I doing here?" She asked.
"You don't remember?" Erza asked.
"Remember what? The last thing I remember was going to the bathroom to get the nail polish. When did we go to the beach?" She glanced over to where Gray and Juvia were. "Uh what exactly happened last night?"
"It's not what it looks like, trust me." Erza said. "We'll explain what happened on the way back."
They woke up Gray and Juvia then went back to his car. The ice on his motor had melted so they were able to start the car.
"Oh my stomach hurts." Lucy said. "I feel like I ate a whole buffet."
"Try six cans of sardines and a whole flounder." Erza said.
"A whole what?!"
"You were pretty hungry for fish last night." Juvia said. "Especially raw fish."
"Oh I think I'm going to be sick."
When they got back to her house, her father was very angry.
"Where were you?!" He asked her angrily. "I was up all night worrying about you!"
"I'm sorry Dad." Lucy said. "Something happened and I...I just wasn't feeling like myself. I guess it's a teenage thing."
"You weren't out fooling around with some boy were you?"
"No! Absolutely not! I just went to the beach to clear my head. I guess I've been so stressed by school and everything lately."
"I see."
It was a long a conversation but Lucy ended up only being grounded for a few days instead of a month as she feared.
"So how did things go with your dad?" Juvia asked when they all met up at the juice bar in the afternoon.
"He freaked but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I never want to go through another night like that again."
"Neither do we." Gray said.
"The worst part about all this is I don't remember anything that I did."
"It's probably best that you don't know." Erza said.
"Did I do anything else really bizarre?"
"I don't think so." Juvia said.
"Hey Lucy." Natsu said waving to her.
"Hello Natsu, what brings you by?"
"I just wanted to thank you for last night."
"Last night?" She questioned before taking a sip of her drink.
"Yeah and by the way you have the world's best lips."
Lucy spat out her drink in the shock.
"See you around." He said before leaving with his surf board.
"Lips?" Lucy said turning to Juvia and Erza who were struggling not to laugh. "My lips? What's he talking about? Guys! What did he mean by that?!"