Chapter NINETEEN

When Lucy woke up the next day, Darque's key was back in her key pouch. She sat up on her bed and frowned. Why hadn't she felt anything?

'Good morning.'

Lucy smiled. "Good morning." She said. She glanced over the side of the bed and noticed that Jellal was still asleep. Lucy quietly stepped around him and out of her bed room.

It was still six in the morning and when she reached the living room, she noticed that both Cobra and Midnight were still asleep. Lucy decided to leave the remaining food for them, as both she and Jellal could eat at the guild.

"Darque?"

'Yeah?'

"What did the Council say?" Lucy asked. Darque let out a soft giggle.

'You will find out at the guild.'

Lucy smiled. "Okay." She entered the bathroom and changed, before shaking Jellal awake.

Jellal groaned and tried to draw the covers over his head. Lucy sighed, then yanked the blankets off him. Jellal gasped and he bolted up. He looked around for a moment before his gaze rested on Lucy. He offered her a sleepy smiled. "Hey."

Lucy grinned back. "Good morning." She left Jellal to change and reentered the living room. She wrote a quick note explaining their absence, then left it on the table for either Cobra or Midnight, whoever woke up first. She was checking her appearance one more time when Jellal appeared, wearing Mystogan's clothes.

She nodded at him then they stepped out of her apartment, locking the door behind her. She walked along the river, her arms stretched for balance. Jellal hovered beside her, ready to catch her should she fall. Lucy waved at the men on the boats, before jumping off and landing neatly onto the pavement.

They made their way to the guild in comfortable silence. They stepped through the guild door, greeted by various guild members.

Levy skipped over to Lucy, Gajeel a step behind her.

'They're always together, aren't they?'

Lucy giggled, but was interrupted by her friend.

"Hi Lu-chan!" Levy said, smiling. "How was your mission?"

Lucy smiled back. "Hi Levy-chan, hey Gajeel. It went really well and we got the full reward."

Gajeel grunted a greeting at the same time Levy let out a giggle. "By the way, did you hear about the Magic Council?" She asked as they made their way to the bar.

Lucy sat down next to her friend and greeted Mira, then glanced at her. "The Council?" She repeated. Jellal looked at Levy as well, curiosity in his eyes.

Levy nodded. "Apparently, just this morning, the Council announced that the criminals, Jellal Fernandez, as well as the former members of Oración Seis, Cobra and Midnight are now free of any previous charges of crime." She placed a finger on her chin. "I wonder what happened."

Lucy's eyes widened and she glanced at Jellal, who was smiling. Jellal met her gaze and Lucy smiled back.

'See how awesome I am?'

"Yeah." Lucy whispered. Until she found out how her spirit had convinced the council, she couldn't let anyone find out Darque was involved. After all, what she had done could be considered a crime.

Lucy ordered two sets of breakfast for her and Jellal.

Soon, Wendy and Carla joined them and Lucy began telling them about their mission. She had gotten to the part where they were waiting for the monster to come out when Gajeel's head suddenly shot up.

Lucy trailed off as Gajeel glanced at something over Lucy's shoulder. Lucy followed his gaze and caught sight of team Natsu (Plus Lisanna).

Team Natsu came over to them and Erza offered them a casual greeting, though she kept glancing at Jellal. "So, how was your mission?" Erza asked.

Jellal glanced at Lucy with a grin. "It was pretty good. We got the full reward and..." He trailed off and his eyes hardened. "And we learnt some new things."

Lisanna glanced between Jellal and Lucy, then shrug. "So, are you going to tell us what happened?"

Lucy sighed, then began retelling the story, skipping out the bits about Lite di Angelo and the monsters true identity.

Natsu scoffed. "I bet I could've beaten the monster with a single punch." He punched the air, concluding his point.

Lucy looked down. They shouldn't have defeated the monster, they should have saved him. Jellal's thoughts must have been going along the same line because he placed a hand comfortingly onto Lucy's shoulders, an action that didn't go missed by the people around them.

Before anyone could ask anything, Jellal turned to Levy. "About the council, does that mean Cobra, Midnight and I are no longer criminals?"

Levy nodded. Beside her, Erza sighed. "I do not understand why Cobra and Midnight are also free as well. I personally think they should stay in their cells and rot."

Lucy paused, then whipped her head around to face Jellal. "Wait, so they don't know..."

'Yeah. They don't know. When I went to talk to the council today, they told me, or rather, they slipped that they haven't told the public about Cobra and Midnight's breaking out of prison. Don't say anything, as it is supposed to be confidential information.'

Lucy nodded. No one seemed to have noticed her little slip, as they were arguing over why the council had let the former members of Oración Seis off the hook.

They were interrupted when Makarov came out of his office. "Ah, Lucy, Jellal. I see you guys are back."

Lucy shot Jellal a glance, then turned back to Makarov and gave his a very faint nod. "Yeah, we are."

Makarov smiled, then turned back to his office. "Jellal, Lucy, please come to office. I would like to talk to you."

Jellal and Lucy glanced at each other, then stood up to follow Makarov, ignoring everyone's gaze on them.

Don't forget to Review and tell us what you think~ XD

We put a poll up in order to decide Lite's candidates.

Poll results:

Angel 11

Natsu 11

Rufus 10

Rustyrose 9

Yukino 4

OC 4

Please give us more ideas. We'll add it onto the list. Votes through PMs and Reviews are also accepted.

Ideas and suggestions are welcome.