A/N: Here's some feel-good filler for you guys, to ease out of that heavy final arc, before our last chapter commences! Enjoy!

And just to reiterate what I said on the last chapter, these three chapters are fluffy filler. Chapter 75 will be the final chapter, and it's an extra long special for you loyal readers who somehow managed to get through a 75 chapter story over the course of a year!

Chapter 72: Middream!

Ah, the gym in the boy's dormitory. It was always crowded on Saturday mornings. Working in a magic guild requiring all sorts of jobs with manual labor or battle, was demanding on the body, which was why so many members worked to maintain some semblance of physical fitness. Saturday mornings were especially popular because half of the men were there to sweat the alcohol out of their systems from Friday nights.

This Saturday morning was no exception.

More than a dozen men were gathered in the gym room. The air was heavy with steam and musk, and the view was of countless shirtless bodies and rippling muscles.

In one corner, Gajeel was doing pushups, beads of sweat dripping onto the mat below. Erik was nearby, punching a training dummy to keep his martial arts skills intact. Piper and Bixlow were spotting each other lifting weights. Elfman was lifting weights by himself, while checking his form in a mirror. Even Macbeth was present, doing sit-ups on the mat next to Gajeel (though, there's a distinct possibility that he was falling asleep between reps and had only done maybe ten sit-ups the whole hour).

In fact, now, Macbeth's eyes were closed, hands behind his head, and a slight smirk on his lips. He hadn't even broken a sweat, and seemed to have decided that he was done trying.

Erik punched the dummy a series of times. He paused, his eyebrow twitching slightly. He shook his head and continued with some hits and kicks, before he stopped again and closed his eyes.

"Can you be any louder?" he scoffed and gave up trying to focus. Then stepped to the wall and grabbed a water bottle.

"Who the hell are you talking to, poison-breath?" Gajeel grunted as he began doing one-armed push-ups.

"Macbeth," he answered, before tilting his head back and chugging from the bottle.

"He ain't said a word all morning," Gajeel pointed out, as he smoothly changed arms with nothing but a hop.

"He doesn't have to," came the snappy response. "I can hear it loud and clear, anyway." He leaned against the wall and smirked, panting slightly as he caught his breath. "So that's why you stopped moping around the guild hall, huh Midnight?"

Macbeth's smirk dropped. He opened his eyes, to cut them at Erik.

Gajeel's curiosity was piqued. He sat up and crossed his legs. He picked up a towel and wiped off his forehead, while looking at his friend next to him. "What? What's Beth thinking about?"

Macbeth's glare didn't drop from Erik for a moment. "Erik. Don't," he warned.

"Hey!" Gajeel smacked Macbeth with the towel he'd just used to wipe his own sweat. "You hidin' something from your best friend, Beth?"

They seemed to have garnered some attention from the nearby men. Piper glanced at them while he was spotting for Bixlow, then mumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not hiding anything," came the reply. Macbeth threw Gajeel's washcloth away with a look of disgust. "I simply think this shouldn't be discussed in…" he sat up, his eyes slowly moved to Piper. "…current company."

Piper jolted at the words, causing Bixlow to drop the bar on his chest. The bluenette didn't even notice. He cracked his neck and scowled in Macbeth's direction. "The hell you mean, 'current company?'"

Bixlow hung up the bar and sat up. He ran his tongue over his dry lips and grinned from ear to ear. "Bet I can guess."

Macbeth closed his eyes and sat in his signature position, legs crossed, arms folded over his chest, but there was a bit of a pout to his lips.

"I heard," Bixlow said loudly, "that someone's been sleeping in the infirmary, and it ain't just Debra."

Macbeth's lip twitched.

Piper's green eyes went as wide as plates as the gossip sank in. His temple pulsed.

Erik poured some water over his maroon hair and tan skin to cool off. He closed his eyes and bared a canine. "'She smells like key-lime pie and flowers,'" he mocked Macbeth's voice. "How cute."

Macbeth's eyes shot up and he lifted a hand, causing dark energy to close around Erik's throat. "Do you want to die?"

Erik didn't seem concerned in the slightest.

Gajeel listened. He tapped his chin in thought, as it took him an extra moment to catch on. Suddenly, he was shaking Macbeth by the shoulders.

"YOU BEEN SHACKING UP WITH DREAMER AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!"

Macbeth's cheeks took color. His bottom lip jutted out and he pointedly turned his head away from Gajeel.

Piper's face turned red, then bright red, then purple, before he finally blew.

"HE'S BEEN WHAT?!"

Macbeth jerked away from Gajeel with an even more pronounced pout. The gaze he cast Erik could have killed.

Erik sat down his water bottle and wiped his mouth before frowning apologetically at Macbeth. "Hey, I'm sorry. I was an asshole for saying anything about it."

Macbeth said nothing, just averted his gaze.

"You don't have to be so dramatic," Erik said, with a hint of panic in his tone. "What's all this about 'betrayal?'" He was clearly still listening to Macbeth's thoughts.

Gajeel put an arm around Macbeth's shoulder and yanked him into an awkward, sweaty hug. "I'd never betray your secrets, Beth." Said the man who had just screamed to the entire gym that Macbeth and Dreamer were "shacking up."

Gajeel was shoved abruptly to the side. Hands closed in fists on Macbeth's collar and hoisted him up, face-to-face with a fuming Piper.

"Is it true?" Piper's voice was low, with just the slightest of tremor underlying it. His eyes were hardened emeralds, boring into pools of blood.

Macbeth's face was totally void of emotion. He didn't even attempt to free himself, just reflected Piper's gaze back at him.

"You been sleepin' in the infirmary with Dreamy?" Piper reiterated.

"Yes." No emotion.

"Why?"

"She asked me to."

Erik was drying off his hair and maintaining a guilty expression. Gajeel was watching with a clenched fist, in case Piper decided to get too handsy with his best friend. Bixlow was going to the other men in the locker room to fill them in on the drama and turn their attention to the action that was unfolding on the mats.

"That all, bubs?" Piper asked.

No response.

"Just tell me up front, Mac. Man-to-transgender freak." Scowling. "Are you's and Dreamy an item now? You been snugglin' and swappin' saliva with my girl?"

Macbeth made a face of disgust at the crude imagery. But while his lip was turning down in a disgusted frown, his cheeks were taking color, and he made the mistake of breaking eye contact for half of a second.

Piper's fists clenched tighter—knuckles going white. "I need to hears it from you, Mac."

After a long, tense moment, Macbeth regained full composure. He stared at Piper, and with a completely straight face, no remorse, no feeling he said, "She's mine."

Piper let him go. They continued to face off, the challenge still flashing in their eyes.

"Good."

Macbeth inhaled sharply at the unexpected word.

"You's been leading Dreamy on for way too long, asshole! Bet she's happy now."

"She is," Macbeth informed him, without feeling.

"Look, I don't wanna know about it. You's can be cute together on your own damn time—I don't wants to see it, I don't wants to hear it, and you keep her the hell out of our bedroom, Mac or I swear to Mavis—" He started to clench a fist, then breathed deeply to compose himself.

"You hurt her and I'll kill you. I ain't playing, Mac."

Finally, some emotion shown on Macbeth's face. His lip twitched the shadow of a smirk.

"What if she likes being hurt?" he asked, in a totally villainous tone.

Erik choked on a swallow of water.

"Goddammit, Mac! You's know what I mean!" Piper's face flushed.

"I know," Macbeth said, seriously.

"I'll kill you, you's break her heart."

"It ain't like he can break her heart," Gajeel said helpfully from the sidelines. "Gotta have a heart for it to break."

Macbeth chuckled. Piper snatched the water bottle of out Erik's hand and threw it at Gajeel's head.

"You're bastards, all three of you's!"

"No one invited you to the party anyway," Gajeel gathered up all their things to go. "Come on Jazzettes, let's go practice."

"We're not the Jazzettes," Macbeth and Erik said in unison.

"Come up with something better, then!"

At long last, Dreamer could go home. Mira guided her to their shared apartment, practically skipping with joy. Through the front door, welcomed by the familiar scent of rose tea and warmth. Down the hall to her bedroom, which she was entering for the first time in over three weeks.

A sweat drop formed on her forehead.

"I tried to make it as welcoming as I could!" Mira said proudly.

"Why does it smell like you dumped a gallon of perfume on my bed? And what's with the flower petals everywhere?"

"You don't like it?" Mira sounded crestfallen.

"No, I'm happy!" Dreamer squeezed her hand.

More than anything, she was just happy to be in her own room again. She laid down on her bed. Her own, soft, familiar bed. The only drawback was… well, no more cuddling with Macbeth on the hospital bed… She blushed and shoved her face in a perfume drenched pillow.

"Look! I reorganized your closet and bought you some more dresses and blouses, and I thought you really had to have this one because yellow suits you!" Mira was digging through a closet that looked like it might explode. "And I got you some bras that clasp in the front but that are still cute so that you don't hurt yourself—don't you like this one? I love the red frills!"

Dreamer raised an eyebrow. "Where am I supposed to wear half of that stuff?" Why did it always seem like her friend was buying her lingerie?

"You could wear it for Mac." Mira gave a long-lashed wink.

"Wha—?" Dreamer was blushing all over again.

"I'm just kidding, silly!" Mira giggled and put the bras back in a drawer.

Dreamer swallowed nervously. She stroked the quilted fabric of her comforter, face contorted in thought. "Hey, Mira?"

"What is it?" She glanced over her shoulder.

"I… I have something to tell you." She patted the bed next to her. Mira was sitting next to her in half-an-instant.

"What is it Dreamer? You can tell me anything! I promise I'll listen and I won't judge you—that's what best friends are for." She grabbed Dreamer's hands and looked at her with sincere, shining eyes, then concern. "Are you okay? Does it have to do with the Resmond incident? Please tell me you're okay."

"No, none of that!" She gulped. "I-I'm fine. In fact... I'm more than fine, you could say."

Mira's ocean-blue eyes twinkled with curiosity. "What is it, Dreamer?"

"Well…" Dreamer's blush only deepened. "I… um… Macbeth and I… we kissed."

Mira blinked slowly, as the words registered.

"YOU KISSED?!" She squealed and bounced up and down on the bed, before flapping her hands in delight.

"Ah… yes." Dreamer rubbed her arm in embarrassment.

"You have to tell me everything!" Mira clutched a pillow to her chest and leaned close to Dreamer. "What happened? What was it like? Did he kiss you or did you kiss him? Was it romantic? Was it passionate? How far did it go? Oh my god, did you—"

"You can stop that thought right there!" she cut her off. "No, we didn't do that! Geez, Mira, what kind of girl do you think I am?" She pouted.

Mira sat up straight. She put her pointer finger in the air, like a lecturing teacher. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with sex on the first date between two consenting adults," she stated, with a smile on her face.

"Whatever! The point is, we just kissed!"

"Once?" Mira cocked her head to the side. "Or have you been kissing a lot? Are you dating?!" It should have been illegal for someone to be so excited about someone else's love life.

"We… a few times." She had the instinct to crawl under her blanket and hide. "And, well, we didn't exactly put a title on it, but… I think so?"

"It's a dream come true!" Mira clasped her hands and gazed wistfully at the ceiling. "My ships really do happen! Middream is canon, at last!" A single tear fell from her eye.

"Oh, come on! It's not that big of a deal!" Dreamer smacked her with a pillow.

"Is he a good kisser? Was there tongue?"

"Okay, now you're just getting too personal!"

"I'm so happy for you, Dreamer!" She threw her arms around her and breathed a sigh of pleasure against her neck. "This is so great."

"Yeah…" Dreamer hugged her back, as much as she could without causing pain in her chest. "But, I'm kind of nervous."

"About what?" Mira sat back.

"Well, what about Syllestra? I mean, what if it's awkward?"

"Let's ask!" Mira cupped her hands around her mouth. "SYLLEST!"

"Mira, no!" Dreamer slapped her hand over the other woman's mouth, but it was too late.

"Yes, auntie Mira?" Syllestra skipped in the door with a juice box in her hand. "Hi, Mom!"

"Syllest!" Mira got down to her level, eyes closed and smile wide. "Guess what?!"

"Mira, no! I should tell her myself!" Dreamer protested, but Mira was too excited to hear.

"Your mom and Macbeth kissed!"

Syllest blinked and then looked at Dreamer before making a face of disgust, tongue sticking out. "Ew, gross!"

Dreamer gave an exasperated sigh.

"Wait, Mom! Does that mean you and Macbeth are boyfriend and girlfriend? Are you gonna get married? Is he going to move in with us? I like Macbeth, but I don't think I want him to live with us because Uncle Piper says he takes really long showers in the mornings, and how am I going to brush my teeth if Macbeth is in the shower?!"

"Syllestra, we are not getting married!"

"Good! Cuz I wanna get married to Romeo first before you get married!"

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. It would be weird if you got married before me."

"That doesn't even—"

"OH! MOM! Me and Romeo really want to know! Does Macbeth take his lipstick off before he kisses you?! Or do you get gross black smears when you kiss him and then you have to go wipe them off so nobody knows? Except, you know Macbeth's lipstick isn't really black, it's actually like purple, he showed me that one time that he came over and did his makeup for me, he actually knows so much about makeup I think he should be a model. Don't you think he would be a good model? He's as pretty as Auntie Mira, maybe he should have one of those centerfold thingies in Sorcerer Weekly, except he'd look really silly in a bikini since he doesn't have boobies, and sometimes those pictures in there are nakey, which is why I'm not allowed to read them, and if I saw a naked picture of Macbeth I think I would throw up for three days straight—"

This time, Dreamer did pull a pillow over her face and hide.

The next day, Dreamer was ready to return to the guild hall. She wasn't well enough to take jobs yet, but she wanted to be around the guild again. She wanted to catch up with her friends and hear the chatter of all the familiar faces. She longed to be immersed in the aura that was Fairy Tail. She could relax, have a cup of tea, maybe eat one of Macbeth's cakes. She'd chat with Lucy and Levy and Kinana. Maybe even play a game of cards with Piper and Cana (even though she'd never won a single time against either of them). She couldn't wait just to have a laid back, regular day with Fairy Tail.

If only she'd known.

She hadn't been in the main room for more than thirty seconds before she was bombarded.

"Hey girl!" Levy threw her arms around her. "Congratulations!"

Dreamer knit her brows in confusion.

"You're braver than me, I'll admit." Levy blushed slightly and scratched the back of her blue hair. "Still, I'm happy for you! Everyone saw it coming!"

"What are you—"

"Someone's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed," Max said as he walked by with his hands in his pockets and a teasing smirk on his face.

Macao and Wakaba glanced at her, then back at each other.

"You got my jule, old man?" Macao asked as he held his hand out.

"You kiddin?" Wakaba puffed on his pipe. "You didn't win the bet!"

"Your memory must be failing with old age," Macao sneered. "I said they'd hook up after the Exaclibur trip."

"You said they'd hook up within a week of being home. Newsflash, Davey was unconscious for longer than that."

"It should still count!"

Dreamer's cheeks began to burn. "H-How do they know…?"

"Hey, Dreamer." Gray waved at her from a nearby table. "Serious question. Is Mac going to try and kill me if I take you out for lunch now?"

"Gray, darling, you can't take another woman out for a lunch date!" Juvia leaned over the table. She cut her eyes sharply at Dreamer. "And you! If you have any sense of loyalty to your beloved, then you will stop seducing my Gray!"

"But I never—" She still hadn't even taken three steps inside yet.

"Dreamer." Erza's powerful voice reached her ears. The redhead approached, out of uniform for once. Her hands were on her hips. "Is it true? You and Macbeth are now a couple?"

"How does everyone know?!" Dreamer said in a choked voice.

Erza's eyes shone. "I will have you know, Dreamer, I am an expert in love." She requipped into a giant heart costume. "If you ever need advice on the ways of the heart, allow me to be your teacher! I will never lead you astray!"

"You know, she ain't ever gonna need advice about the heart, red!" Gajeel shouted over the hubbub. "Since she ain't got one…"

Dreamer facepalmed as everyone laughed.

"True love…" Elfman's eyes watered. "It's so… MANLY!" He sobbed into Lisanna's hair.

Dreamer wasn't sure she'd ever been more embarrassed in her life.

"Hey, Bisca, Alzack, when are you two going to make it official like Middream?"

"Yeah, if those two weirdos can make-out, so can you!"

"Do you think he takes his lipstick off before he kisses her?"

Dreamer had had more than enough. She strode to the stage and climbed up before holding her hands out. "EVERYONE!"

All eyes fell on her.

"I have an announcement to make!"

"She's going to declare her love!"

"That's kind of awkward, don't you think?"

"They're sort of a weird couple, though."

Dreamer looked at all their faces and willed up her magical energy.

Sleepy.

There was a chorus of yawns.

"Weird… I feel tired all of a sudden."

"You too?"

Within moments, heads were on the tables, snores resounding, drool flowing.

Dreamer dropped her arms and sighed in relief. She was glad that was over. She'd never been more embarrassed in her life.

"How did you do that?" A familiar, dark voice called out to her.

"Macbeth?" She swallowed a lump in her throat and watched him weave between the crashed bodies to the stage.

"Doesn't your magic only work on emotions?" he asked, as he climbed onto the stage and faced her.

"What?" she shrugged in defense. "'Sleepy' is totally an emotion."

He smirked, black lipstick tugging on his cheek.

"They know," he said simply.

"Yeah…" she blushed and looked down at his white boots. "I'm sorry, I swear I only told Mira and Syllestra…"

"Why are you apologizing?" There was a teasing edge to his tone. "Are you ashamed to be seen with me, sweet Dream?"

"What?! N-No! No way!" She gazed over his lithe form, fur scarf, halter top and low jeans revealing midriff. Embarrassed, she glanced up at the ceiling. "I just thought… You seem like the type to want privacy about these things, you know? And it's not like we said that we're dating—"

"Aren't we?" He stepped closer, but kept his hands at his side, less than an inch between them.

"A-Are we?" She tilted her head back to look up at him.

"Hey, Dream." He hooked his finger under her chin. "I heard something concerning today."

She was totally aware of the fact he had just changed the subject, but with his closeness and the sensation of sweet breath on her forehead, she couldn't protest. Or do much of anything besides wish he would bend his head just slightly, and part his lips, and…

"Someone said that if Mystogan were here, he would be so disappointed to know you were with me." His red eyes sparkled with an evil glint. Dreamer gasped and stepped back, instantly flailing her arms in defense.

"For the love of Mavis, how many times do I have to… Mystogan and I were never a thing! Okay, it was a really bad misunderstanding! I charmed him so he would teach me sleep magic but I was still practicing my magic effectively and I overdid the spell a little bit and basically it ended up being like a love spell and it was really awkward and I fell into the river and it was all just a huge misunderstanding I swear! We never—I never—"

"Dreamer." He pressed his finger against her lips, silencing her immediately. "I don't care."

She parted her lips in surprise. "You don—"

He took the opportunity, immediately capturing her parted lips in a kiss. She squeaked in surprised pleasure as he wrapped an arm around her lower back and closed the space between them, before lifting both hands to cup her face and tilt her head back, so that he could deepen the kiss.

"Still embarrassed?" he whispered, breath on her lips after they parted.

"Ah…" she didn't know what to say. She was useless jello.

A slow clap began in the crowd below. She looked over in horror to see that everyone had woken up, and were slowly standing to clap for them in dramatic fashion. There were catcalls and hollers, and finally a chant began to pick up.

"Middream! Middream! Middream!"

"Mavis, kill me…" She clutched Macbeth's coat and hid her face against his chest.

Several months ago, hardly anyone in the guild had known her name. Now, at the moment, she was the most popular topic of conversation, which was not a welcome feeling. But still… She didn't care that much. What really mattered what Macbeth's arms around her.

"EX-ORACION SEIS ASSASSIN CAUGHT LIPLOCKED WITH A FAIRY TAIL MEMBER! THE SCANDAL OF THE YEAR!" A new voice rang out. "This is so cool! OH the readers are going to EAT THIS UP! Can you give us one more kiss for the camera?! Make it good, this is totally going to be the main story!"

"THERE'S A REPORTER HERE?!" Dreamer's eyes flashed in terrified fury.

Jason from Sorcerer Weekly caught a pic of her furious face. "Oh, that's good!"

"THAT'S IT!" Smoke billowed from Dreamer's ears and she leapt off the stage in what should be impossible strength, particularly for a recovering girl. "GIVE ME THAT CAMERA OR I'LL MAKE YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE A REALITY!"

Macbeth chuckled under his breath in amusement.

"Looks like you're rubbing off on her buddy," Gajeel pounced on the stage and clapped him on the back.

They watched her chase Jason around the guild hall with a broom.

"PARTY!" Makarov shouted from on a table—whom they hadn't even known was there. "Let's celebrate this uniting of souls!"

"Damn, does this guild do everything like this?" Erik joined Macbeth and Gajeel on the stage. "It's overdramatic as hell."

"Yes," Macbeth said, with an amused smirk—which was soft around the edges, filled with genuine happiness. "This is what fairies do."

"I should've just stayed in prison," he winced.

"I can put you back there real fast, poison-breath," Gajeel said, cracking his knuckles.

"Simmer down, big guy," Erik scoffed. "Or I'll announce to the guild that you and the bookworm are a couple, too."

"WHAT?!" Gajeel went bright violet. "I ain't dating that shrimp!"

"You should be," Erik shrugged. "Not that it's any of my business, but you two think about each other more than Natsu thinks about food, and that's saying something."

And so it went, in very typical Fairy Tail fashion.

Yes, that is what fairies do.