A/N: If you've stuck with me throughout writing this, thank you sooo much! I'm sorry for being the slowest updater ever. I want you to know that not for one second did I want to abandon this fic, and it took so long because I was such a perfectionist with it. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you – I'd be happy to read, review, or peer-edit fellow Graylu stories. I hope you like the ending!
IV. Fire and Rain
If Lucy could describe herself right now in one word, it would have been "numb". Numb from her outburst at her friends. Numb from contemplating what the other Fairy Tail members would say to her. Numb from insufficient sleep, walking all morning, and not finishing her lunch. Numb from curling her head to her knees for the last hour. And of course, numb from the torrent of rain that soaked her entire body.
It felt fruitless to keep waiting for one of her friends to show up. She wanted to talk to them so badly, to run back and revise the past. But she also needed them to understand her outrage. She wasn't Natsu's possession he had to protect. Neither was she Juvia's pawn or Gray's toy.
When she finally arose, there was a rain puddle on the floor. Groaning, she glanced out the dimly-lit window. It was still pouring as heavy as before, water pounding hard on the windows and rafters. She wanted to talk to someone who wouldn't judge her. Her first instinct was Loke, but she couldn't bear to think of his reaction and Aquarius's when they found out the results. Immortal spirits didn't need jewels to survive, but he'd still put his faith in her. She mentally recalled the rest of her spirits that weren't involved in the bet and could be summoned today: Horologium, Pyxis, Crux, and Capricorn.
She smiled wryly at imagining talking to Horologium or Pyxis about her love life. Crux's knowledge only extended to information about the other celestial spirits. She held up Capricorn's golden key, wondering to herself. Capricorn used to be contracted to her mother. At that moment, Lucy knew whom she wanted to talk with. She pulled a blank piece of parchment out of her drawer and started writing.
Dear Mom,
I miss you so much. I wish I could confide to you in person because you'd know exactly what to do. Today I screwed up. Big time. I shouted at my best friend, punched my other friend, and made myself look like a total idiot in front of my would-be 'boyfriend'. Whom I didn't even consider my I liked until Mirajane got in my head. Whatever.
You taught me kindness, and for that, I'm forever grateful. Balancing kindness with self-worth is something I still have to work on. I don't want to let my friends boss me around or lead me on. But I hated seeing the injured expressions on their faces.
In my heart, I know our friendship is too strong to break. I know there has to be a solution somewhere – I have no idea what it is yet, and I'll need some time. But until then, I'm going to keep you in my heart and my thoughts. Thank you for being the North Star in my sky.
Love forever,
Your daughter Lucy
As Lucy stared longingly at the letter on her desk, which was slightly damp from water stains, she heard a knock at the front door. She went to peer out the window and froze in place. It was Gray.
"Hey, you forgot your groceries" he yelled from below. He was holding the shopping bags she'd left at the restaurant. His normally spiky hair was flattened and soaked from the rain.
Lucy's heart jumped, but she quickly remembered how drenched she was too. It had taken him almost two hours to show up! She'd been crying & drowning on the floor for so long she couldn't remember dryness.
"Leave them on the doorstep" she huffed.
Gray set the bags by the door, then looked back up at her and said, "I'm not gonna leave until you let me in, Lucy." He folded his arms and leaned against the door frame, waiting.
Lucy scowled but curiosity got the best of her. Why had it taken him so long to show up? He'd teased with her affections so much that their friends noticed. He'd held her hand today, told her she looked pretty, and taken her to a fancy lunch. She had to know why-why would he go through all that, for her to still not enough? She paced back and forth by the window, wondering if she could bear to be hurt any more today. Gray was still standing outside, occasionally glancing up to see if she was still there. Finally, she reasoned that she'd already paid for the groceries, and trudged down the steps to retrieve them. She took a deep breath, and with trembling hands, she turned the doorknob.
Gray watched at her with a funny expression on his face. She blinked back, unsure what to say. Of course, all her clothes were soaked and her hair was in wet tangles, but what was she supposed to do? Annoyed, she turned around to shut the door and go back in but felt Gray grab her arm and spin her around. He held both of her arms in his and pulled her closer so that his face hovered inches away from hers. And before Lucy could say a single word, before she could process how close his body was, he kissed her.
Every molecule in her body melted with the rain. His lips were just as soft as she'd imagined this morning, but they crashed down on her own with a hunger she'd never met before. By unconscious effort, she clung to his waist for support and felt him press her body against the wall in return. Her clothing stuck to her skin, cold wind blew on her face, but she didn't care, because all she cared about was Gray's touch and the fiery tingle that was spreading through her system.
When they finally surfaced, Lucy's heart was still racing a mile a minute. She could still feel his abs through his drenched shirt, their lower bodies stuck together, and heat rising to her cheeks.
"You-you have some explaining to do, Fullbuster!" she gasped, out of breath and still holding on to him.
With a flushed face, he glanced at the open door and mumbled, "So, I can come in then?"
Lucy nodded, still dumbstruck. The tingle in her body was still there. She wordlessly followed him as he carried her bags up the stairs and strode into her apartment. Gray set the bags down in the kitchen and walked back to the living room where Lucy was. Then he ruffled the water out of his hair and casually started taking his clothes off.
This couldn't be happening. She wasn't ready. She stood frozen, watching Gray take his pants off with wide open eyes. Before he could get to his boxers she cleared her throat.
"Hey! No stripping in my apartment!" she snapped. Just because they kissed didn't mean she could commit to…that.
"Aww, shit Luce, I forgot," said Gray, seeming genuinely embarrassed as he realized how the situation appeared. He started putting his jeans back on. "It's just that my clothes are all soaked. Force of habit," he said, shrugging.
The color returned to Lucy's face as she realized why Gray was undressing this time. She crossed her arms and glared at him for giving her a heart attack.
"Do you have a dry shirt I could borrow?" he asked, sheepishly avoiding her scowl.
"I'll see what I've got. You stay there," muttered Lucy, going to her bedroom. She opened the drawer where Gray's discarded clothes went. The team would hang out a lot at her apartment, and as hard as Gray tried not to he'd inevitably leave clothes at her place. Secretly, she'd always pretended to be more annoyed by his stripping tendencies than she really was. It was the weirdest habit she'd ever seen, but it didn't hurt that Gray had a rocking body. She picked out a pair of ripped jeans and a black t-shirt for him.
Then she opened one of the drawers that held her own shirts. Empty. Puzzled, she opened another one. Also empty. Blinking rapidly, she opened every single drawer in her armoire and found no clothes. As a clap of thunder sounded, she gasped and covered her mouth in horror.
Virgo had hung out all her clothes to dry. Lucy peered in the direction of her porch to see a glimpse of the laundry line swaying in the storm.
"Fuck!" she cursed. Her lazy laundry routine would definitely have to change in the future.
"You alright in there?" called out Gray from the living room.
"Doing great! Just getting some clothes!" she yelled back. There was a chance that Virgo and Loke had left some of the celestial world clothes behind. She unfurled the covers of her bed, hoping for one of the cute outfits they'd planned. Please be the maid outfit…or at least the stripper outfit…please don't be ugly pajamas…
She groaned as she uncovered the horse-print Sagittarius pajama set. Gray would have to like her no matter what she wore. She went to the bathroom to change and dry herself off. When she came back holding his clothes and a towel, she found him sitting in front of her fireplace. The flames crackled and filled her house with a glowing warmth. The light illuminated his face, and for a moment she stared at the familiar scar above his eyebrow from Galuna Island.
"I started up your fireplace, hope you don't mind," he said, giving her a timid smile. His eyes flicked over her pajama set, and Lucy swore she saw him stifle a laugh, but he didn't say anything.
Lucy was grateful for the heat. She handed him his clothes and a towel, and he went to the bathroom to change. When she sat down in front of the fire to wait for him, its warmth slowly took away her numbness. Finally, he came back and sat in front of the fireplace, facing her. He grabbed both of her hands in his.
"Lucy-," his voice cracked. "I'm really sorry. I never, ever wanted to hurt you"
Even though he was the one apologizing, Lucy felt her own heart sink too. She squeezed his hands gently and said, "I'm sorry, too. I should have waited for you instead of jumping to my own conclusions"
Gray coughed and looked at the ground. "Um, about your question from earlier, I guess I owe you some answers? Do you want them now, or-?"
She narrowed her eyebrows. "Spill the beans, Fullbuster" she commanded. She wanted to know everything.
Gray's story:
"Hey Natsu, come fight me!" challenged Gray.
Now that Natsu was back, it was brawling time. He spun around to search for his rival and instead saw a cute, blonde girl gawking at him instead. It was hard not to stare back - the new girl had a shapely figure as well as the most adorable face he'd ever seen. He was temporarily thrilled until he realized why she was staring – his clothes were missing again.
A sudden punch in the gut from Natsu sent him back to fighting mode. Somehow, after kicking him back, he'd either lost (or taken off) his underwear. He walked up to the new girl and said the first thing that popped into his brain.
"Excuse me miss, could I borrow your underwear?" he asked, and regretted it immediately.
"Ahhhhhh!" the blonde girl shrieked and whacked him with a nearby bat.
"I probably deserved that one," said Gray wincing from the ground.
After the brawl finally quieted down when Master Makarov entered, Gray found out from Happy that the girl's name was Lucy. For some reason, Natsu kept calling her Luigi or Loopy. He went to get some water from the bar and watched Lucy get her brand new guild mark on her hand. He was fascinated – no woman had ever boldly rejected him like that before. And she was impressively strong, which made her even more attractive. Perhaps the biggest thing that drew him to her was the way she moved and talked to his fellow guild members – like they already meant everything to her.
"Nice first impression," said Cana, still hugging her barrel.
"Whatever. I've got my pants back," said Gray.
Cana shook her head at him. "Careful where you tread, striptease. That girl's greatest wish was to join Fairy Tail and I don't want you to frighten her off on her first day"
"Obviously she's tougher than she looks," said Gray, rubbing the spot that Lucy had hit him on. "Maybe we should be worried about you giving her alcohol poisoning"
"No way. The only thing this barrel is going to hurt is my liver," said Cana, as she tipped the ale directly into her mouth.
Gray snuck a peek at Lucy. She was ducking in a corner, still bewildered by the inter-guild destruction. She walked around a bit and picked up something white that was lying on the ground. She grimaced as she realized it was Gray's missing shirt. Gray rushed over to retrieve it and properly greet Lucy.
"This is yours, right?" she said, gingerly holding the shirt out to him.
"I'll try to keep it on this time" he apologized. Somehow being around Lucy only begged his subconscious to strip more. He pulled on his shirt, extended his hand to her, and said "The name's Gray. It's nice to meet you, Lucy"
Gray could hardly believe his fortune. After ages of being accompanied by his teammates, or feeling Juvia breathe down his neck, Lucy had asked him to spend time together by themselves. True, it was for a favor, but with her it didn't feel like a chore at all. She'd even seemed pleasantly surprised when he asked her to lunch.
They'd wandered all over the market, laughing and pointing their observations out to each other. Lucy even held his hand once, though he wasn't sure if it was for comfort or because she was flirting. Lunchtime came and Gray was still the happiest he'd been all week. But what he wasn't expecting, was Lucy to actually confront him about his feelings for her.
"So, um, is there anyone in the guild you do like?"
Gray froze and turned away. It was very obviously her, but what if she didn't feel the same way? He was suddenly aware of the loud buzz of people talking around them. He peeked up at Lucy. She was still waiting for an answer.
"Maybe. It doesn't matter" he said, hoping she'd drop the subject for now.
"Gray, look at me," she insisted. Gray nervously faced her as she asked, "Is it me?"
He had to tell her, but he couldn't. She was too close, to special to him. He could feel his face heating up and swore to himself he'd tell her eventually. "Look, I don't want to discuss this here, right now. Can't we eat and talk about it later?"
However, Lucy didn't budge. "It's a yes or no question Gray."
Resigned, Gray tried to form an answer in his mind. "You're adorable and I want to make out with you". No, that was too much. "Of course I like you, idiot". That was too harsh. But 'yes'…'yes' was insufficient to describe how much he truly adored the girl sitting in front of him. How important she was to him. She was bright, and compassionate, and beautiful…
"Lucy! Gray! I didn't expect to see you guys here!" said Natsu. Happy flew not far behind him.
Gray wanted to kick himself for not speaking up sooner. After a brief conversation involving a lot of hostile energy, they confronted each other in the alleyway next to the restaurant. When Gray explained that they were here to pick up ingredients for a cake, Natsu blinked. Then he held his stomach and roared with laughter.
"A cake? Man, you guys are dumb, just go to the bakery!"
"It's what Lucy wanted, idiot!" Gray shot back. If it was up to him he would have bought the first strawberry cake he saw and been done.
"I don't see why she would take you along instead of me anyway," said Natsu, folding his arms. Was he actually jealous?
"Probably cause she knows you'll burn the entire kitchen down, pyro freak!" Gray was getting increasingly annoyed at his friend's intrusion. Natsu and Lucy were tied at the hip all the time, and he couldn't handle her being gone one day? No…it had to be more significant than that. It was their guild rivalry, and up until now, Lucy was always Team Natsu.
"Who you calling pyro freak, popsicle stick!"
"You couldn't bake a cake if it walked into the oven for you! Ever since you stopped learning from Lisanna, half your diet has been fish."
Mirajane was the best cook in the guild but passed down much of her skill to her sister. Gray remembered him and Cana teasing Natsu about playing 'house' with Lisanna all the time when they were younger.
Natsu's fists tightened at the mention of Lisanna. "You shut the hell up," he snarled, stepping closer to him.
"It's none of your business what Lucy does in her spare time," countered Gray in an equally threatening tone. Heck, Lucy came to Fairy Tail to escape her overprotective father. She sure as hell didn't need another one.
"You guys, not now," interjected Happy, flying in between them. "Natsu, let's just ask Lucy after we sell our fish"
"No! I want to talk to her now!"
"Like hell you will. She doesn't belong to you or anyone else-"
Several high-pitched shrieks cut through the air, halting their conversation. Gray and Natsu stopped and glimpsed out of the alleyway in the direction it came from. He and Natsu sprinted out of the alleyway to see what was wrong.
It was Lucy and Juvia, somehow fighting with each other. Juvia had pinned Lucy against the brick wall with a giant watery hand that was slowly warping around her throat. Gray had seen Juvia distraught before, but never like this. Her eyes were teary but also had a wave of crazed anger inside them. Meanwhile, Lucy's face was flushed, starving for oxygen, and her hands balled up into fists. He could hear Natsu yelling Lucy's name but she was too focused on struggling against Juvia's watery grip. However, when Juvia leaned closer, Lucy took her chance and elbowed Juvia in the face, connecting with her nose.
When they finally reached them, Juvia was crying and holding her nose. Luckily, Lucy appeared uninjured, just waterlogged. Gray and Natsu asked them what was going on, still shocked at seeing the two of them fighting. Gray pulled a napkin out of his pocket to give to Juvia, who had blood dripping down her face.
Gray was stunned as Lucy broke like a dam in front of the whole crowd. He watched in awe as his normally cheery friend berated Natsu for interfering in her life. As Lucy turned to Juvia, Gray's heart skipped several beats when he heard her words…words about him. He deduced that Juvia must have followed them, and was trying to stop them from hanging out. He blinked when he heard Lucy declare she couldn't control how she felt about him. So…did that mean…
Lucy's final words answered his question. But they also cut through him like a dagger. She thought he was leading her on. But it wasn't true, it wasn't what he'd meant to do. He wanted to tell her so badly. As she stormed off into the distance, that's what he resolved to do.
"Lucyyyy!" Natsu called after her. When she didn't turn around, he said to Gray "I'm gonna go after her"
"No," said Gray sharply. "If there's any time in my goddamn life I'll ever ask you for a favor it's now – you are going to let me talk to Lucy. I'm the one that caused all this"
"But she's upset with me too!"
"I'll take care of it. Let's help Juvia" he said firmly.
Happy looked at Natsu and back at Gray and began helping Juvia to her feet. It took a few minutes, but they finally coaxed her into talking. Besides her bloody nose, she didn't appear to be injured, merely shaken.
"Chin up Juvia, it's only a broken nose. Gray and I have given each other broken noses on purpose. Wendy'll have ya fixed up in no time," said Natsu.
"You'll be alright Juvia," agreed Happy. "You need to come with us though."
"As long as Gray-sama does not love Juvia, Juvia fears she may never be alright," she said, sighing. As she spoke, a shadow fell over the group. There were dark clouds swirling in the sky, the same kind that appeared whenever Juvia had tears in her eyes.
Gray looked up at the sky and looked at Juvia again sadly. He didn't want to do this, he didn't want to make her feel worse. But it had to be him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke to her.
"Juvia, I can't-I can't love you the way you want. I've tried okay? And it's not something I can control." He put his hand on her shoulder, expecting her to object. Instead, he felt a raindrop splash onto his arm. Then one on his neck. Juvia's sadness was beginning to engulf the whole town in a drizzle. The crowd from before had thinned considerably, and now the last few stragglers were heading indoors to escape.
Juvia slowly turned to face Gray. The blind fury in her eyes from before was gone. In its place were tears and something Gray had never seen before –acceptance. Juvia was finally seeing through the perfect image of him she'd constructed in her head. "Gray-sama will never change his mind?" she whispered. When Gray shook his head, the rain intensified, rattling off the shutters and outdoor tables. He hesitated, then gave her a small hug. He cared about all of his friends, and she was no different. He was glad he could be the turning point in her life. But now she had to figure out a way to make the rain disappear on her own.
"I can't be your sun, Juvia," he reflected sadly. "Your world can't orbit around me"
"But Juvia does not know what do without you" whimpered Juvia. Natsu and Happy put their arms around her shoulder. There was now a gale blowing all around them, uprooting the table umbrellas at Water Street Café.
"You still have me. You still have all of us. But you have to move on. Not for me. But for yourself" said Gray. He knew moving on would be the best thing for Juvia. She had so much passion to give, it wasn't fair if it was wasted on him.
"There's lots of stuff you can do around here Juvia! You can come with Happy and me on missions. You can go on picnics with Erza," said Natsu. He gestured at Gray with a mischievous grin. "And there are way better guys around here than this glum snowflake"
Juvia still hadn't moved, wrapping her arms around herself. The other three watched her as she scrunched up her face and seemed to be lost in thought for a few moments. Finally, she asked quietly, "Will Lucy and Juvia ever be friends again? Juvia…Juvia enjoyed that"
"If there's one thing I can promise you, it's that Lucy would never give up on her friends," said Natsu. Gray nodded in agreement.
"Please come with us so we can let Wendy heal you," said Happy.
At last, Juvia moved. He watched the three of them trek down the street in the direction of the Fairy Tail dorms. He could hear Natsu and Happy suggesting various hobbies to Juvia as they walked.
"How about fishing? No, not your thing?" asked Natsu.
"But you would be so good at it!" whined Happy. "Natsu, what if Juvia loved a new person?"
"Ooh, great idea Happy! Let's see, who's available…how about Laxus?"
"Excuse me?" said Juvia, flabbergasted.
Gray snorted and suppressed a laugh. If Juvia ever did the impossible and fell in love with Laxus, she'd have to go through Freed first. Before the three of them turned the corner, Natsu still listing off suitors, he saw Juvia roll her eyes and a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. The storm was still blowing full force, but he knew it would come to pass. Now it was time to tell Lucy the truth.
"All this time and you-you didn't tell me?!" said Lucy, her jaw hanging open. It felt like the bottom of her stomach had just dropped out in shock. Gray was interested in her from the moment they'd met. She shook her head rapidly, getting some of the water out of it. When she stopped, Gray was still sitting in front of her, not a dream but real as could be. For the first time since he'd entered her apartment, he broke out in laughter. She couldn't see what was funny about the situation at all.
"It started as something small, " said Gray, tilting his head and gazing upwards thoughtfully "But the better I got to know you, the more time we spent one on one…I had to accept it morphed into a dangerous fantasy. And I consider you the smartest person in the guild, so I thought you'd be able to figure it out. I wasn't going to say anything because I thought you didn't feel the same way". He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a tiny smile. "I guess I got a little freaked out earlier when you kinda just asked me out of the blue"
"That part was kinda Erza's fault," said Lucy, smiling meekly. "She sort of found my journal and said if I didn't ask you about it, she would". Although they did get their feelings out eventually, she thought. Maybe Erza deserved a cake after all.
"Why am I not surprised?" said Gray, rolling his eyes.
"Hold on, you really think I'm the smartest in the guild?" she asked. A lot of people had told her she was pretty in her lifetime, but not as many noticed her wit. Though she didn't feel particularly intelligent at the moment. Mirajane, Gemini, Virgo, Juvia, and even Happy all caught on before she did. Then again, solving riddles was always going to be easier than trying to figure out men.
"I know every person in this guild, so yeah," said Gray nonchalantly. He sucked in his breath, picked up Lucy's hand, and held it in both of his with a hopeful look on face. "So um, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Will you still give me a chance?"
Lucy could still hear the rain pounding on her windows. So much was happening, so quickly. And that sudden thunderstorm - now she knew why it was happening. Whatever pain she felt an hour ago must be ten times worse for Juvia. But she couldn't simply sacrifice her own happiness…
"I-I think so. I mean, yes. I mean, gosh, I want to do this, I really want to…I never thought about the possibility of you and me until three days ago. I still have to make things right with Natsu and Juvia. But I promise, I want to try" babbled Lucy. She could not live her life knowing she didn't take this chance. And yet, she could not have it rain forever.
"I get it. It's a lot to process for me too," he replied, smiling at her. She smiled back as he squeezed her hand. A flash of lightning lit up the room and they both glanced towards the kitchen window where it came from. Lucy suddenly remembered the groceries Gray returned to her and the whole reason they went out today.
"By the way, thanks for bringing my groceries," she said.
"It wasn't a problem. Forgot to mention, I found the dumb food coloring. That's why it took a while to get here," he said.
Her eyes went wide with surprise. "You did?" she said. Food dye was the one thing they weren't able to find that morning.
"I didn't know what colors you wanted though. I just got our favorite colors…blue and pink for you, black for me, and red for Erza."
"That-that was really thoughtful of you," she said. It was the oddest assortment of colors and Lucy had no idea what to do with it. Black frosting, seriously? Oh well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. "Do you want to bake it?" she asked him, pointing to the kitchen.
He shrugged and said "Spent all that time searching for the ingredients, and the weather's still crappy outside. We might as well."
They both shuffled over to the kitchen and Lucy grabbed Of Sugar Mice and Gingerbread Men from her bookshelf. As she recited the recipe steps, Gray preheated the oven and started to work on blending the wet ingredients. She gathered the dry ingredients and mixed them in a separate bowl. He mixed the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients as she prepped the cake pan. Finally, they popped it on the oven, and both sat down in front of it wiping their brows.
"Well, that wasn't so hard," said Gray.
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "That was only baking a normal cake. The tough part is the glaze"
He groaned. "So how long do we have to wait?"
"About half an hour" she replied. She stood up and turned the knob on her kitchen timer so they would be alerted. "Is there anything you wanna do while we wait?"
Gray got up and stood behind her so that she could feel his steady breath tickle her hair. He leaned in and spoke quietly and enticingly next to her ear, "I can think of a few things."
Lucy's eyes widened as she felt him put his hands on her waist. She let out a tiny gasp of surprise and tipped her head back as Gray trailed small kisses up her neck, then her cheek, and finally her lips. This time, she kissed back sooner, eager to explore as much of his lips as possible. She shuddered involuntarily at the touch of his cold fingers running down her spine.
"Maybe not in the kitchen," she murmured between breaths. He didn't stop, but instead lifted her up so that she could wrap her arms around his shoulders, and carried her to her bed. She blushed as his body brushed up against her once more, and gradually moved her hands to his hair. He softly moaned as she bit his lip and pulled away. His hands snaked all around her upper body, grabbing fistfuls of her hair, pulling her waist closer, and grazing down her back. The rest of the room seemed to spin around her, blurring her sense of time.
Her eyes were closed, but she could feel his cool hands brush against her ribs. She squealed and twitched away at the tickling sensation. "Geez, your hands so cold!" she exclaimed.
"It comes with the ice magic. Should I wear gloves or something?" he asked, cautiously scaling back.
"No, I'll get used to it, but – hey! Why is my shirt off?" she asked, finally opening her eyes.
Gray froze in place and his eyes darted to Lucy's pajama shirt, which was now lying on the floor. Somehow, with his skill, he'd managed to steal her shirt and leave her with her bra.
"What did I say about no stripping in my apartment?" she said, raising an eyebrow. Being less clothed didn't bother her. But the fact that Gray's habit had evolved to the point where he didn't even know he was taking off other people's clothes was concerning.
"Technically, you never said that rule applied for you?" he said, raising an eyebrow back and pointing at her. "Look, I'm sorry. But if we wanna do this, you've gotta ease up on that rule someday. Since I can't take my own clothes off, I have to take off yours. And not to make excuses or anything, but those hideous pajamas have got to go"
Her cheeks reddened at how forward he was being, and how despite it being hideous, he still wanted to take off her last dry shirt. "Fine. But until that day, you're gonna have to wait" she asserted.
"Some things are worth waiting for," he said, reaching down and picking her shirt off the floor.
His words rung through her mind as he handed back her shirt. Instead of putting it back on, she clutched it in a ball, thinking. Her mouth curved into a smile as she finally comprehended…there was indeed, a way to make everyone happy.
"What are you smiling about?" he asked, smiling back. He reached up and stroked her cheek with his thumb.
"I know what to do."
Monday, 10:00 AM, Fairy Tail Guild Hall. Expected showers until late afternoon.
"Absolutely stunning. Picturesque. Symbolic" muttered Erza to herself.
Lucy and Gray snuck glances at each other and tried to hide their snickering. They couldn't eat the entire cake by themselves, so they'd bought it for the guild to share. For the past ten minutes, they'd been entertained by Erza struggling to compose herself at how striking it was.
"This cake is too beautiful to eat!" she declared.
"Excuse me?! I didn't spend hundreds of jewels on it to sit and grow mold!" Lucy rebutted.
They'd mixed blue and red icing to create purple. Then they poured blue, purple, and pink streaks across the black glaze background. Finally, Lucy cleaned off a paintbrush and splattered white dots over the whole thing. The results? It was a galaxy. More symbolically, a frozen universe. Gray had to admit they wouldn't find that at the local bakery.
Gray rolled his eyes, picked up a knife, and motioned to cut the cake into slices. However, Erza swiftly knocked the knife out of his hand. It flew through the air and across the room, where it impaled one of Reedus's painting canvases.
"No! We must have a picture of it first!" said Erza, glaring at Gray.
"You know what? Fine. I ain't the one who's going to tell Reedus his landscape art is botched" he said.
"Hurry up, I just want to eat it" groaned Lucy.
Erza went to the bar to ask Mirajane for a camera. When she came back, she snapped several photos of the cake from various angles. By then, more Fairy Tail members had started to file in, including Natsu, Happy, and Team Shadowgear. After she was done taking pictures, Ezra didn't bother to grab another knife and instead cut the cake with her sword.
Lucy closed her eyes as she finally bit into a piece of the cake that had caused her so much emotional turmoil. When the three of them finished their portions, they sliced up the rest and put it on small plates to hand out.
"I shall take some for Mirajane and Cana," said Erza, picking up two plates and heading towards the bar excitedly.
"I'll grab something for the rest of the team," said Gray, grabbing slices for Natsu, Happy, and Wendy.
Lucy was about to take a piece and greet Levy, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Juvia quietly slink into the guild hall. Her face was emotionless as the day they'd met, and she was the only guild member so far that bought an umbrella. She also had a small white bandage on her nose. Immediately, Lucy changed course and rushed over to her instead.
Juvia blinked at her sudden appearance. "Lucy. Juvia had something to talk to you about" she said. Her face was still unreadable.
Lucy twitched and wrung her hands together. "Actually, I had something I wanted to tell you too. But you can go first."
"No, you go," insisted Juvia. Her gaze was so steely that Lucy decided it might be better to go first after all.
Lucy took a deep breath and began. "I'm really sorry I said those things to you. However angry each of us may have felt, it still wasn't right for me to dismiss your feelings. Which is why I decided…I won't date Gray until you're ready to move on. I know he's your first love, and it takes time to heal. I want to move forward in a way that doesn't hurt you."
She'd decided on Saturday. Kissing Gray was indescribable. She was already looking forward to the feeling of his gentle hands roaming through her hair again. She already wanted to spend an entire day with only him again. There was no way she was giving him up. But if she could be with him and still make her friends happy, all of those moments were worth waiting for.
Juvia was silent for a moment, then gave Lucy a small smile. "Juvia is touched, but doesn't need you to do that anymore. Juvia has a better solution," she declared, beaming.
"You don't? But-but what about the rain on Sunday, and the weather today?" said Lucy. The thunderstorms had continued through the weekend. When she woke up this morning, it was drizzling and dreary, but the storm wasn't as intense as on Saturday afternoon.
The water mage put her palm up to gesture Lucy to stop talking. She then cleared her throat and began explaining. "Juvia locked herself in her room all Sunday. She tried really, really hard to make the thunderstorms go away," said Juvia with staring at the floor. Lucy felt a knot forming in her stomach.
"Then she ate seven tubs of ice cream," Juvia continued. Then she wrung her hands and grimaced. "Then she got sick. But after that, Juvia did some deep thinking. This gloominess today-" she said, gesturing to the sky through the window, "- is not caused by me. Sometimes it rains without my help, remember?" she asked, and giggled. Lucy gave her a tiny smile back but was still confused.
Juvia took in a deep breath and continued, "Anyways, Mirajane revealed a while ago to Juvia that she is close to not making the S-class trials for next year. But Juvia's former love rival is very close to snatching her spot. Therefore…Juvia found a new passion and decided she doesn't want a love rival anymore. Instead, Lucy will be Juvia's guild rival! Like Natsu and Gray!"
Lucy could only imagine the look on Makarov 's face when he could hear about another fierce guild rivalry. Maybe he'd finally go insane from the property damage bills and retire as guild master indefinitely.
"I-I'd be honored to be rivals with you!" said Lucy. She was immensely relieved that Juvia didn't hate her. She was used to water attacks by now. If it helped Juvia move on, if it helped Gray not have to deal with her advances, she would willingly get thrown in the river seven days a week. It would be amazing training practice if either of them were going to the S-class trials again.
"Let's start now, Lucy!" challenged Juvia, bending her arms back into a signature move. "Water slic-"
"Wait!" yelled Lucy, throwing both hands in front of her in a 'stop' motion. Juvia put her arms down, frowned and tapped her foot. "I need to tell Natsu and Gray we're doing this, otherwise they'll think we hate each other" clarified Lucy.
Juvia furrowed her brows for a moment, then registered what Lucy was referring to and nodded in agreement. "That is a clever idea" she agreed. "We shall start after you make your announcement"
Lucy nodded. Before she left to go see Natsu, Juvia surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug. "Juvia is very sorry for everything too," she whispered into her ear. Then she started to sniff the air around her. "Something smells quite delicious…"
"There's cake over by where Erza is. Gray and I bought it to share it with everyone," said Lucy, hoping Erza hadn't devoured it all already.
"Cake!" squealed Juvia, letting her go and dashing towards the bar.
Lucy didn't have to work hard to locate Natsu and Happy since they came hurrying up to her a few seconds after Juvia left.
"Lucy! I heard you had a space cake or something?" said Natsu, sitting down at the nearest wooden table and patting the seat next to him.
"Coming right up!" she said, grinning and quickly fetching two plates of galaxy cake for them. As Natsu and Happy's eyes lit up, she sat down next to them and said "Listen…I'm sorry for yelling at you. I know you were just watching out for me"
"Eet's alrife" said Natsu, with his entire mouth full of cake. He swallowed an enormous gulp and wiped his mouth with his arm. "I guess I got kinda jealous. I'm sorry." He scanned the guild and locked eyes on Gray, who was handing cake out to Wendy and Carla. "I still get to beat up Gray though, right?"
"Wait, why? Just because?!" cried Lucy.
"Didn't he break your heart?" asked Happy.
"What? No! He-he did the opposite," she said, a deep blush forming on her face. When she said those words Natsu's eyes popped out of his head and Happy slowly broke out into an "I-knew-it" grin.
"You and- ice princess?" he said, pointing at Gray, who was now walking over to them. "What the heck…you-you two are actually together now?"
Lucy shrugged. She'd told Gray that they could start dating whenever Juvia got over her feelings, she hadn't expected it to happen so soon though. Her eyes softened as she gazed at her treasured companion, the reason she was here at Fairy Tail in the first place. "It doesn't mean I won't hang out with you and Happy. We're a team. Nothing can change that," she promised. "You always make room for the people you care about."
Natsu didn't respond for a moment. If Lucy hadn't known him as well as she did, she might have missed the quick peek over by the bar, where Lisanna had popped up. He crossed his arms and seemed to be still processing the news as Gray sat down next to Lucy.
"Alright. But if he ever does break your heart, I get first dibs on pummeling his face" said Natsu, finally responding and grinning at Gray.
"Flaming asshole," grumbled Gray at Natsu. "I'd punch myself in the face before I did that to her". Her heart swelled as she felt the familiar rustle of his fingers through her hair.
"Juvia doesn't seem to be upset as I thought she'd be," noted Happy.
"Oh, about that. Juvia and I aren't 'love rivals' anymore. We're guild rivals" said Lucy. She waved at Juvia across the room, who was happily stuffing cake in her mouth.
"Guild rivals?" said Erza, joining them and sitting next to Natsu. "So that means…," she said, her eyes moving from Lucy and Gray to Juvia, to the empty plates of cake. A smile slowly spread across her face and she said, "As predicted, my idea was a success! This is some big news!"
"What's the big news?" said Levy, showing up next to them and holding a plate of cake.
"Levy! Glad you're back!" said Lucy, her eyes lighting up at seeing her friend.
"These two have finally realized their feelings for each other," said Erza.
"Wait, what?" said Levy, her eyes darting back and forth from Gray to Lucy. "You-him-dating-" she stammered until she finally slammed her fists on the table and exclaimed, "I miss everything!"
"What did you miss?" said Gajeel, walking up behind her and slapping his hand on her shoulder.
"They likeeee each other!" teased Happy, pointing at Gray and Lucy.
For the first time, neither of them objected. Lucy blushed again and peeked over at Gray. He was smiling, and something about his smile told her it was different this time. Gone were the days of wondering, 'love rivals', and pining. Instead, it was the beginning of something remarkable. She knew they were about to both say the same thing.
"Yes, we do"
Yay, I finished my first story :D Again thank you so much for all the reviews/follows/favorites, they make my heart swell. Also, if you want to see the cake Gray and Lucy made, just google "mirror glaze galaxy cake" and there should be similar pictures. They are pretty freaking cool.
Thanks for reading this 'originally-a-oneshot-what-was-I-thinking' fic! Until next time :)