Three young women danced around the living room of the small apartment as a K-pop song on Lucy's playlist blared through the speakers of the TV, playing catchy tunes you just couldn't help but move to. Clothes were strewn about all over the room as they "got ready" for Cana's party they were supposed to be going to in an hour, though neither of them seemed to be in any rush to leave the comfort of Lucy and Levy's living room where there was already good food, music, and company. Once Juvia had pulled out a wine bottle from her suitcase, all productivity was flung out the window. By their third glass they'd found themselves having a party of their own in the small space.

15 minutes into their little dance party, it was Juvia who seemed to remember why their clothes were everywhere and stopped suddenly.

"Wait! We have to go to your friend's party!"

"Party?" Lucy halted her dancing to look innocently at her roommate, who had stilled as well at the mention of where they were supposed to be going tonight.

She met Lucy's gaze with an equally fake dumbfounded expression before they both simultaneously looked at their visibly unamused guest. "What party?"

Juvia sighed and picked up the TV remote from the coffee table, turning the music down and earning some whines as a result. "The party we're going to. All of us," she reminded them firmly.

Levy and Lucy muttered their protests in vain as they flopped down on the couch. "I don't even have any good clothes," Lucy murmured.

"That's a lie," Levy said almost instantly. "You have a great sense of style when you actually try."

Lucy shot the blunette a death glare. Not helping. "Why try when there's no one to impress?"

"Well maybe you'll find someone you'll want to impress at this party," Juvia said simply, rifling through Lucy's pile of clothes on the other couch.

"I'm not interested in looking good for anyone but myself… unless they look like Natsu Dragneel," Lucy sighed, the alcohol in her system loosening her filter for the moment.

"Then look good for yourself," Juvia grinned, lightly tossing an article of clothing at the blonde's chest.

Lucy frowned at the sudden fabric resting on her torso and lifted it so she could see what Juvia had thrown to her. She smiled at Juvia's choice of clothing and hopped off the couch.

"Okay. You win."

Levy got up a moment later, walking over to her pile of clothes and plucking an orange dress from the stack. "Guess that means I'm going too," she sighed.

Juvia beamed at her two friends, relieved and grateful. "Amazing," she giggled, looking through her own clothes now. "Now get ready, we have a party to go to."

Natsu basically collapsed on the ground of the hotel room, Gray casually stepping over him to walk further into the space they'd be staying in for the week. He turned slightly to snicker at his half-dead roommate before whipping out a small camera from the pocket of his black hoodie, turning it on and holding the lens at arm's length from his face.

"So we just got to Hargeon," He walked back over to where Natsu lay groaning in agony from the flight and a taxi ride, leaned down slightly and turned the camera in Natsu's direction to broadcast his suffering. "... And Natsu's already dead."

"Fuck off," Natsu muttered, the sound coming out muffled as his face was currently making intimate contact with the floor.

Gray chuckled and aimed the camera back to his face. "We're going to a party soon, I'll probably record some of that. I'll see you guys then," he gave a bright smile and turned off the camera, turning to look at Natsu. "Get up, you damn pyro. We have to leave soon."

"I think I'm good here. Go on without me," he moaned.

"I would, but then Erza would kill me. Again," Gray shuddered.

After a few minutes, Natsu found the will to stand while Gray was unpacking some of his things, only to stumble over to his hotel bed and flop face-first onto it.

"Give me like an hour. I'll be good then."

"You have 30 minutes before that she-demon busts in here expecting us both to be ready to go," Gray deadpanned.

Natsu groaned at the validity of that statement. Why had he agreed to go on this trip again? He was sure Cana would've been content with a Skype call. He fumbled off the bed and hobbled over to the window, opening the shades to get a view of the city they were in from the 10th floor. It wasn't anything too extravagant, but it was a nice looking town. A suburban area could be seen amongst the rows of buildings, showing just how small of a city Hargeon was. The streets below were dimly lit and were less busy than he was used to, and it was kind of nice. This place was like a slower, more peaceful version of Magnolia.

He stayed at the window for a few more minutes before finally deciding it was time to get ready to leave, and by the time Erza was banging on their door the two were just about good to go. Gray was rolling up the sleeves of his button-up shirt and Natsu was wrapping his white scarf around his neck, matching nicely with his fitted red t-shirt as he opened the door to reveal a beautifully dressed Erza. Her black bodycon dress was the perfect balance of trendy and casual, the low neckline showing off her impressive assets while the hem that went a decent distance above the knee showed a nice amount of the redhead's long legs. Wendy stood beside her, a tad more modestly dressed but still looking great in her casual green sleeveless dress. Gajeel leaned against the opposite wall of the hall, looking grumpy as ever in a simple white t-shirt paired with an unzipped leather jacket.

Erza beamed at the two in the doorframe of their room. "You look great. Cana will be happy to see us."

"You guys look good!" Wendy agreed with a bright grin.

"We're walking to this party right?" Natsu questioned, praying for her answer to be "yes".

"Well it is just down the street, I don't see the need to take a cab," Erza stated, Gajeel and Natsu doing joyful backflips in their mind at the news.

"Best news I've heard all day," Natsu sighed in relief.

"Let's just get this over with," Gajeel huffed from behind the two girls.

Erza led the way down the hall, a group of smiling faces (with the exception of Gajeel) following close behind.

"Alright guys, we have a party to crash."

By the time Lucy, Levy and Juvia got to the bar, dressed to impress and disappointingly sober, the place was full of college students, so many that some had gathered in groups in front of the building, likely to escape the crowd of people that were inside. The music inside was so loud they had been able to hear it well before they even got there, and now that they were standing in front of the building the bass was rattling them to the very core.

"I changed my mind. I think I'd rather stay home," Levy choked, sobering instantly at the sight of so many people in one space.

"Nope, we're doing this together," Lucy shot back, linking arms with the blunette. Levy gave her an apprehensive look, but Lucy ignored it. There was no backing down now. They were here, standing in front of the building, so Lucy felt they may as well try to have a good time.

Juvia squealed in excitement as she gazed at the packed bar. "I've never seen a party like this in Oak Town!" She grabbed both of the girl's hands and basically ran into the building, dragging the two less-than-elated girls with her. "Let's go!"

As soon as they walked through the doors the music got even louder, and the atmosphere around them completely changed. The only source of light was the beams of light that spanned randomly across all corners of the bar in all different colors allowing the view of silhouettes of people, and that was pretty much it.

Levy turned to Lucy and said something, but Lucy couldn't hear over all the activity. She learned closer to her ear. "How are we gonna find Cana here?" She yelled, still barely being heard above the music.

"I have a feeling she'd be by the bar," Lucy shouted back, pointing over to an area that seemed to actually have some stable light. She turned to tell Juvia where they should go, but was shocked to see that she was no longer by their side. She felt panic steadily rise within her at the sudden disappearance of her friend, only for it to die out when a circle of light briefly illuminated Juvia's face in the distance, dancing her heart out amongst a crowd of people and looking like she was on top of the world.

Lucy and Levy giggled at their enthusiastic friend, deciding she was fine and they'd check up on her later. Lucy grabbed Levy's hand and directed the two towards the bar with some difficulty, lightly pushing their way through the crowd until they finally caught sight of the bar only a few feet away. Just as she expected, Cana sat there downing a shot of some clear liquid, clad in a bikini top and short denim cutoffs. A crooked tiara sat on her brunette head with the number "21" in the center, and a tall built man sat close beside her with an arm slung around her shoulder, who Lucy assumed to be Cana's boyfriend.

The two approached the brunette with wide grins, and Cana saw them immediately, breaking into a huge grin when they made eye contact. She quickly hopped off the barstool to embrace the two in a huge hug that they eagerly returned.

"You guys came!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks for inviting us!" Lucy shouted back with a grin. Cana let them go and rushed to the bar for a moment, scuttling back to them in a second, this time with two shot glasses full of what looked like the same clear liquid she had been drinking earlier. She gave each of them one glass before going back to get her own, filling it back up and returning to the girls who eyed their glasses quizzically before looking back up to Cana, who merely stood beaming in front of them with her own glass before raising it above her head.

"Drink!" She shouted excitedly, bringing the glass to her lips and throwing the liquid to the back of her throat. Lucy and Levy looked at each other for a moment before shrugging with a "fuck it" attitude and mirroring Cana's actions.

Lucy would soon realize the glass had been full of straight-up vodka when it immediately assaulted all of her senses. She quickly swallowed it to rid her mouth of the horrible taste, only for it to burn the whole way down her throat, nearly turning her into a coughing, sputtering mess. Levy coughed as soon as she managed to down the strong liquid, though it was nothing compared to the spicy ramen Lucy made her eat for a video weeks ago.

Cana giggled at the wincing faces of the two girls and shoved another shot into both of their hands before shouting "Enjoy the party!" and returning to her boyfriend's side.

They exchanged looks once more before hesitantly taking the second shot, still not quite used to the sensation. The vodka burned another line of fire down Lucy's throat, but she recovered quicker than last time, finding Levy's hand again. "We should find Juvia!"

"Good idea," Levy loudly voiced back, allowing herself to be led to the dance floor. Lucy didn't seem to take into account that she was with another person and as such they should be more careful when weaving through the crowds, and Levy struggled to avoid bumping into people.

Before they made it, a body suddenly stepped into Levy's path, but Levy couldn't move out of the way in time before she bumped hard into the side of a large body, resulting in an annoyed grunt from the guy she'd almost barreled into. She immediately looked up to get a view of the man's face in the dim light to apologize, but the words died in her throat as she made eye contact with fierce red eyes and a ubiquitously pierced face glaring at her.

She'd never seen such an intense looking man.

"Watch it, shrimp," his gruff voice cut straight through the music, reaching Levy's ears with ease.

…

Wait, did he just call her shrimp?

Her face immediately shifted into a scowl but before she could yell her snarky comeback Lucy had pulled her away from the man, totally oblivious to what had just happened. She huffed and decided to leave it alone, knowing she'd likely never see him again so it probably wasn't even worth it.

After a bit the two were able to find Juvia in the crowd, still dancing the night away with the biggest of smiles on her face as she moved in tune with the music. She hadn't seen them until they were directly in front of her, her smile growing impossibly wider when she found her friends.

"Hey! There you guys are!" She shouted. "Dance with me!"

In a matter of minutes Lucy and Levy had gone from awkwardly swaying to moving their bodies to the music blasting in their ears without a care in the world, the effect of their vodka shots beginning to take action and loosening their inhibitions ever so slightly. They hadn't had enough to be drunk, but they felt better than they did when they were completely sober and that was enough.

She wasn't sure how long the three of them spent lost in the moment, and she didn't care as she danced among many bodies at this raging party with her best friend and their internet friend who they hadn't seen in nearly a year. Times like this did not happen often, and she was going to enjoy every moment.

She opened her eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever and scanned the crowd of people, the energy of the crowd adding to her own as she grinned blissfully and moved to the beat of the electronic dance song blaring through the speakers.

And then her eye caught onto something particularly interesting in the distance over Juvia's shoulder.

She was sure it was either her eyes or the dim light that was deceiving her but she could've sworn she'd just seen a familiar looking head of pink hair before they were swallowed up in the crowd.

Could that have been…?

Nah. That was definitely the light obscuring her view or something.

But that guy looked exactly like Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail.

Geez, how strong was that vodka?

She reluctantly brushed it off, noting Levy and Juvia didn't seem to notice a thing as they continued to dance to the music. She probably just needed some air.

"I'm gonna go outside for a bit, I need a break from this crowd," she yelled to her two friends, who voiced their "okay" in unison before returning their full attention to the song. She gave them one last smile before finding her way to the door where she came from through the crowd, taking one last look at where she'd found the Natsu doppelgänger before leaving.

This time she could've sworn she'd seen Gray Fullbuster.

She was never drinking again.

She walked through the front doors and the brisk night air hit her instantly, though she reveled in it after being in the cramped, hot bar for the better part of an hour. Though with the cool wind went the previous energy she had earlier when she was surrounded by a party aura. No one was really outside anymore save for some people who were smoking next to the building.

She took a deep breath, instantly relaxing when she breathed out. She didn't realize how much being around that many people had taken out of her until now. Right now all she really wanted to do was go home and curl up on her bed with a manga, away from crowds of drunk college students brushing up against her at every moment. It was similar to how she felt after conventions where she often was surrounded by multitudes of people looking to talk with her or get her to sign something of theirs. While she did love her fans, she did feel a sense of relief at the end of days like that she was finally alone in her room. She was an introvert through and through.

She leaned against the cold brick wall, pulling out her phone to let Levy know she wasn't going back inside in favor of going home, figuring she'd be fine with Juvia.

She quickly sent the text and put her phone back in her pocket before getting off the wall and beginning the short walk back home.

"Hey pretty thing, where're you off to?"

She looked over her shoulder to side-eye the man who was catcalling her, a clearly drunk brown-haired man who looked about her age, likely someone from Cana's party. For a moment she thought he would actually be cute if it weren't for the way he was trying to get her attention right now. She turned back around and kept walking, opting to just ignore him.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you!"

Lucy froze for a split second when she felt a hand grab her arm, the self-defense tactics she learned when she was younger flooding her brain as she instantly turned her arm that was still trapped in a vice grip to twist the man's own arm in an unnatural direction before landing a swift kick to his groin. She gave a satisfied smirk when a groan escaped his lips and his grip loosened. He cowered over his assaulted nether regions and Lucy took this as her opportunity to turn and run away from the perverted drunk guy. She wasn't worried about a lanky guy like that taking her down, but she'd rather not take her chances in case he had some sort of weapon or something.

She heard him call out to her as she ran, though his voice sounded oddly different from before. She didn't pay it much mind. The sound of something clattering to the floor filled her ears, which Lucy decided what probably the man dropping something amidst his suffering, smug smirk returning for a moment as she continued to get as far away from the party as possible.

She was so done with people for the night.

Cana's eyes widened into saucers when she caught sight of her friends from back home approaching her with wide grins. When she finally processed what was in front of her she practically threw herself at the four of them in a drunken embrace.

"Oh my God! You guys!" She cried, absolutely over the moon that they had come to her birthday party all the way from Magnolia.

"We had to come see you for your birthday," Erza smiled at the beaming brunette.

"Happy Birthday Cana!" Wendy, Gray and Natsu cheered in unison at the woman who looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Gajeel's here too but he got lost 'cause he's an idiot," Natsu informed her casually. She laughed loudly at his remark before bringing them all into a hug once more.

"I'm so happy right now," she choked, tears threatening to spill over her cheeks. They looked over her shoulder to give smiles of greeting to her boyfriend who sat there looking at Cana with an amused, yet happy expression.

"How's it going, Bacchus?" Gray asked the man on the barstool, who simply chuckled and downed the shot in his hand in response.

"Good," he replied after a moment. "Nice to meet you all in person."

"Likewise," Erza said back.

Cana released her friends and rushed over to the bar, waving a hand for them to follow her. "Celebratory drinks!" she exclaimed, smirking at a certain blunette. "You too, Wendy," she mused to the 17-year-old, filling a glass with vodka and handing it to Wendy who took it apprehensively.

"I-I don't know-"

"Don't worry about it! You'll be 18 soon enough and I know the owner of the bar, you won't get in trouble," Cana reassured her. Wendy nodded slightly and took a small sip of the liquid from the shot glass before immediately spitting it back out and cringing at the cup. Cana giggled and took the glass away. "Okay, maybe another time," she chuckled.

Cana poured shots for the rest of them, handing a glass to each before they all raised their hands in unison.

"To Cana!" Erza shouted excitedly before they all downed the vodka shots with ease.

20 minutes later found them all giddily making their way to the dance floor, blissfully tipsy save for Wendy and ready to dance the night away.

And Natsu did just that, reveling in the energy around him, completely in his element in the crowd as he laughed and joked and danced surrounded by his friends, loving the blaring of the bass-heavy music and crowds of people surrounding him, likely enjoying the party just as much as he was. He'd lost track of time with how much fun he was having.

And then a striking figure amongst the crowd caught his eye.

Long blonde hair swayed as her shapely figure moved in tune to the music, and Natsu couldn't bring himself to look away, completely mesmerized by the way she swung her hips in her fitted maroon t-shirt dress that went halfway above the knee, exposing flawless thighs and a slim waist Natsu couldn't seem to look away from.

Then she turned around, giving him a good look at her face and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor when he realized who she was.

Erza stood outside of the bar after sneaking away from the dance floor, taking a break from the busyness in the building to take in the atmosphere of the town she hadn't seen in years. Being in Hargeon brought back so many amazing memories, though with them also came the ones she'd rather forget. While she'd had time to move on from the past, she still couldn't bring herself to completely wipe it from her mind.

Specifically, it was difficult to erase a certain head of blue hair she'd spent so much time with in her youth.

She knew she needed to, as he was not the same person he was before and would probably never go back to being the friend she knew and loved dearly.

"Erza?"

She cursed herself for still being able to clearly hear his voice in her thoughts.

Wait…

"Erza? Is that you?"

She turned her head so fast it almost made her dizzy, noting the familiar tone, mind filling with nostalgia and pain at the sound of it.

And there he was, standing there next to the building with a cigarette in his hand, and under any other circumstances she'd have laughed at his gobsmacked expression.

Though she probably looked the same way.

"Jellal," she breathed in utter disbelief.

"What are you doing here?"

"... I wanted to surprise Cana for her birthday. Why are you here?" She replied back as casually as she could muster.

"I live in this building," he gestured to the structure next to the bar.

"I see." He lifted his hand to place the cigarette between his lips, and Erza eyed the action with a frown. "Smoking isn't good for you, Jellal."

"I know."

Her frown deepened at the simple response.

"I'm better, you know," he continued suddenly, throwing Erza slightly off guard. She resisted the urge to smile after the initial shock, noting the importance of his statement. She saw the truth in it written all over his face. For the first time in what seemed like forever she actually saw life in his eyes and he actually looked put together in his clean shirt and jeans.

"That is good to hear."

...

Silence.

"Um… I never thought I'd get the chance to do this, but somehow you're here right now for the first time in years and I'm not sure if I'll ever see you again after this so I'm just gonna say it," Jellal stated suddenly, dropping the cigarette bud on the floor and putting it out with his boot before moving closer to Erza. She struggled to keep a neutral expression when he stood directly in front of her with the intense look she had loved for so long.

"Okay," she choked out.

"I'm sorry for everything I did to you when I was… messed up," Jellal began. "Every time I think about back then I feel like the worst person on earth," he let out a humorless chuckle, Erza retaining a stoic expression as he spoke. "And I know words are never gonna fix what I broke but I need you to know how sorry I am and how much I still lov-"

"It's okay," Erza cut him off suddenly. She knew what he was about to say but her heart simply would not be able to handle hearing it now. "I forgive you."

He met her gaze curiously for a moment before nodding in what seemed to be understanding before giving her a small smile. "I've seen you on YouTube. You really got big."

"I'm very lucky," she hesitantly smiled back. He chuckled at her humble response before his expression regained seriousness, though with a new light in his eyes.

"Can I see you again?"

She resisted the urge to grin wider at the question. "I am in Hargeon for the week, so maybe," she replied simply. "I should go back inside. It was nice to see you again, Jellal."

She turned around swifty, grin coming in full force when she was sure he could no longer see her face as she strode back into the building.

For the first time since their teens, Erza was actually brimming with joy after an interaction with Jellal.

Either Cana put some weird shit in his drink or Natsu just found Lucy, also known as Celestial on YouTube, at this party in bumblefuck Hargeon.

Christ, she was even hotter in person.

Asking himself what the hell he was doing just standing there staring, he immediately moved to approach her, until Cana grabbed his arm and dragged him over to where she was.

"Dance with me Natsu!"

He looked down at the drunk brunette, looking back over in a split second to where he'd found Celestial on the dance floor, only to grow bewildered when she suddenly wasn't where he had spotted her anymore. He looked frantically around the area before he finally found her pushing her way through the crowd, seemingly towards the exit.

"H-hey Cana, I think I'm gonna go outside for a bit to get some air," he said hastily, not waiting for her response before turning around to find the blonde beauty. Things like this only happened once in a lifetime and there was no way in hell he was missing his chance to meet Celestial, the YouTuber he'd discovered only recently but had become a fan nonetheless.

It took him a while to push through the masses of people but eventually he had made his way to the front door of the bar, being hit with a gust of cold air that he ignored in favor of finding what he was looking for.

And then he saw her, meters away, along with some guy who was stumbling behind her.

All assumptions of the guy being a friend of hers or something dissipated when he roughly grabbed her arm.

But just when Natsu was about to burst into a run to punch the guy he decided was most certainly not friendly, she did a swift string of moves and the man was suddenly blubbering helplessly on the floor.

He gaped at how fast it had all happened before coming to his senses when she began to run away.

Crap!

"Wait!" He yelled without thinking, quickly beginning to run in her direction, passing the man who still was a mess on the floor before giving up after a few seconds and calling it fate as she turned a corner and disappeared right before his eyes.

Well, of all missed opportunities this had to be the worst.

He turned to sulk back to the party, hoping to lift his crushed spirits when he stepped on something that clicked against his shoe at the contact. He furrowed his brow in curiosity when he spotted a card on the floor. He bent over slightly to pick it up and examine it.

No. Freaking. Way.

It looked like a school I.D. card for Hargeon University, and the picture on the left side contained the bright smile of the one and only Celestial. Next to the picture was the name "Lucy Heartfilia," further cementing Natsu's suspicions of who this card belonged to.

Well shit, now what?