A/N: I hope you like it :)
Mira watched with a content smile the normal craziness unfold around their guild. On second thought maybe it was even crazier than normal considering that it was Valentine's Day. However there was something that bothered Mira. She could see Gray sitting by the window, for once not fighting with Natsu, looking almost longingly at the requip magician who sat next to him. The great Titania herself was unaware of his eyes on her and was talking to Lucy about their last mission.
It was no secret to Mira that the ice magician had strong feelings for his best friend and even Erza showed on occasions that she had a soft spot for Gray, but none of them had ever admitted anything to each other. Something had to change and Mira developed the perfect plan when she spotted Reedus going into the backroom to paint.
After getting Reedus to agree to her plan, Mira approached Erza, who was just ordering her beloved strawberry cheesecake.
"I have a request for you. All you have to do is let Reedus paint you and Gray." Erza looked critical and Mira was sure that the requip magician was about to question the request further, so she had to stop her from doing that.
Even if Mira wasn't Erza's rival any more she still knew how to push her buttons and she used that knowledge to her advantage.
"Don't tell me that the great Titania is unable to complete such a simple request." She mocked her.
"Of course I can do that. I'm an s-class magician." With that said she turned to Gray. "Come on, let's find Reedus and get this done with."
While Erza almost dragged Gray behind her Mira smiled, it had gone better than she had thought. Now it was up to Reedus to make sure that their secret plan would work.
It didn't take Erza long to find Reedus, who was in one of the backrooms in the guild, already painting something.
"We heard that you need us for a request." The requip magician said and faced Reedus as soon as she closed the door behind them.
"It's a simple request. I have to paint a poster for the Valentine's Day theater play today and the main actors look quite similar to you two. They are so busy rehearsing that they don't have time to model for my painting, so the director requested two replacement as my models." Reedus explained.
"I can't believe Mira thought I couldn't do this. I'll show her." Erza was clearly still angry about her former rival's words and was determined to finish this mission successfully. "What do we need to do?"
"I'll place you in the right light and position and you just have to stand still until I finish my painting."
"Okay, let's do this." It was clear to both male guild members that Erza was just as serious about this mission as every other, no matter how simple it was.
Reedus gently moved Gray and Erza around until he was content with the way they stood. With a small smile on his lips he finally sat down and began to paint. Normally he was able to finish a painting fast, but for Mira's plan to work he had to take his time.
If it weren't for his ice magic Gray was sure that he would have blushed at the position Reedus had arranged them in. Erza and him stood closer than ever before and he had one arm around her waist and his other hand rested on her cheek. Erza in return had one hand over his Fairy Tail symbol and her other arm was wound around his neck. Neither Reedus nor Erza had commented on his suddenly disappearing shirt, they were both used to it after all, but for once Gray wished someone had pointed that fact out to him before he got so close to Erza. Her hand felt warm and soft, which didn't help his nervousness about the situation at all.
"You have to look at each other." Reedus spoke up after a while and Gray cursed inwardly.
It was hard enough to be so close to the woman he loved with the knowledge that she saw him only as a friend, but looking into her eyes would make this even more difficult. Taking a deep breath he finally looked up like Reedus had requested and locked eyes with Erza. The moment their eyes met Gray felt his heart beat faster. Never before had he been able to looked at her beautiful eyes so closely. He had always loved her eyes, they were deep and full of secrets. Just looking at them he could be happy for the rest of his life and no matter how cheesy that sounded it was true.
Suddenly Gray found the space between their face shrinking and it took him a minute to realize that he was leaning closer to Erza. He tried to stop, but it was as if his heart had finally taken over his mind and was doing as it pleased. He would be lying if he said that he hadn't wanted to kiss her for a while, but he still wanted to make sure that she wanted this as well. Looking into her eyes he saw them widened before she closed them and he took that as a sign that she wanted this as well.
Gray forgot everything around him when their lips met. It didn't matter that this mission was rather strange or that Reedus stood a few feet away trying to paint them or that he had surely ruined their friendship, all that mattered was the beautiful woman in front of him and her soft lips.
When they pulled away Erza seemed dazed for a moment, but then she shook her head. With her usual serious and determined expression on her face she turned to Reedus, her voice sounding professional.
"You got the painting you needed, right?" After the artist nodded in confirmation Erza spoke up again. "Well then I'll take my leave." With that said she almost ran out of the room.
"This was never a request, was it?" Gray asked after a while, trying to focus on something else than the hurt that he was feeling from Erza's rejection.
"Not a real one, more a request of Mira as a matchmaker." Reedus answered, already starting a new painting.
"Of course it was Mira's idea." Gray sighed and sat down next to the other magician. "And now she ruined our friendship. It's obvious that Erza doesn't care that way for me."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Reedus said gently and gave Gray the three pictures he had drawn of them.
Gray carefully looked them over. One was of them just in the position that Reedus had arranged them in and another he must have drawn shortly after they had pulled away from their kiss. However what really caught Gray's eyes was the painting of their kiss. He almost blushed at the fact that Reedus had witnessed and painted such an intimate and important moment in his life, but when he looked closer at the painting it didn't matter anymore. Reedus was perfect with details so Gray could clearly see that Erza was smiling into the kiss. Had she liked the kiss as much as he did? Was there a chance that she felt the same for him after all and had just been hiding it like he had?
As if hearing his thoughts Reedus spoke up.
"She might be Titania, but she is still a woman with feelings and insecurities." The artist advised gently. "Go after her, Gray."
That was all the encouragement Gray needed and he hurried out of the room as fast as he could.
Reedus looked after him and finished his last paining for the day, a picture of a smiling Gray with hope shining in his eyes that his feelings would finally be returned.
There was only one place Erza would go when she was emotionally confused and Gray knew this place better than anyone. In a way he almost considered it their place. Here their friendship had begun and here he had started seeing the side of her that she didn't show anyone. When he had found her crying all those years ago he had known that she would be special for him, but only years later he had realized that his crush had turned into what it was today, love.
Just as he had predicted he found the requip magician sitting by the river, deep in thoughts. It seemed that she was so far away with her thoughts that she didn't even hear him approach, which was quite unusual for the always guarded Titania.
"We need to talk about what happened back there." Gray said gently when he was close enough to her.
Only now she realized he was there and for a moment she looked insecure before she answered him, her voice and expression controlled again.
"There is nothing to talk about. We were clearly caught up in the scene. We should forget it and that's it." She quickly stood up, clearly getting ready to flee again, but Gray wouldn't have any of it. This was the closest they had been and now he had more confidence than ever that she might feel the same way, so he wouldn't let this opportunity slip away.
"What are you afraid of?" He challenged her, knowing that this would get her to stop running away.
"I'm not afraid of anything." She turned around angrily.
"You are afraid to admit that you're just as in love with me as I'm with you."
"You're in love with me?" She asked hesitant and Gray realized what he had said, but there was no going back now.
"Yes, I love you." He confessed and took her hands in his. There was insecurity in her eyes so he continued. "This is new for both of us, but my feelings for you are true. Please give us a chance."
The hesitation in Erza's eyes vanished and the love she had been hiding took finally over. She didn't respond to him with words, but her soft lips on his confirmed quite clearly that she felt the same way.
A few feet away Mira watched the new couple with a gentle smile. What a beautiful Valentine's Day it was going to be for these two and surely this was also the beginning of a loving relationship.
A/N: Happy Valentine's Day :)