Disclaimer: All rights of Fairy Tail go to Hiro Mashima!
The market at the centre of the city was a busy place to be in the morning. Old grannies bargained to get vegetables cheaper than the original price, parents had to keep their children in check as their sprouts were attracted to all the luring candy and delicious strawberries presented on all the different, colourful market stalls. If you look closer, you can even see little thieves stealing apples or bread when the market vendor isn't looking. Maybe they needed it, or maybe it was all for the thrill, who knows? Gray walked past the normal market stalls and went to one which had a roof of green cloth. All kinds of seeds and supplements for plants were presented in all kinds of different baskets. He searched for those who would fit best in the big garden of the mansion. It was his responsibility after all. The responsibility Lucy's mother gave him when she saw him wandering the street by himself. After a while it was clear he had no family to return to and she took him in. She told him he could live in the mansion when he did his part. And so he took responsibility for the back garden, to pay back her kindness. Even though Layla died a couple of years ago, Lucy's father didn't throw him out. It seemed as if he didn't want to judge Layla's decision, not even when he was against it. Jude kept an eye on him, but he could stay. That was more than enough, to have something to return to. Not quite a home, but more than enough.
As a gardener, he took care of the back garden. There were other, more experienced people who cared for the front part because it had to be neat to greet all the guests. He didn't mind. No one told him what to do, only Lucy on some occasions because her bedroom window looked at his piece of garden. He did his job well, placing new plants, caring for the old ones. However, it didn't really fit his element. Whenever he got angry at someone for stupid things or worried himself about something, his magic would take over and as everyone knows… most plants can't really stand the frost. In other words, if he would've paid more attention this morning, he wouldn't be standing here at the market.
"Mr. Fullbuster! It's nice to see you this morning, having trouble in the garden again?"
The woman behind the desk smiled as she recognised one of her regular customers.
"Unfortunately, miss Kiva. Do you have some more frost-resisting plants for me?"
"But of course! I don't know why you need them though, the frost is already gone! Spring is nearly ending and they said the weather will only improve from now on."
"Just to be sure, I don't want to risk anything."
"Well I've got seeds from Rose Mallow Hibiscus, Sweet Alyssum, Snapdragons, Twinspur flowers, Nemesia flowers and wild violet plants. Which will it be?"
"I'll take twenty seeds from the Sweet Alyssum, Twinspur and Nemesia each, please."
"Coming right up, say, have you heard anything from the Heartfilia family lately?"
Kiva was gathering the seeds in different bags when she asked him about the gossip.
"Why would there be anything going on?"
"Well, I've heard from the other gardeners that they need a lot of roses for next week, but they didn't know why. Something big is going to happen I think… Your order will be 15 jewels please."
Gray gave her the money and took the bag over from her.
"That's the first thing I hear about it. But now that you say it, there are indeed more flowers in the ballroom and the hallway."
"Oh well, we'll know soon enough. Have you been sleeping properly? You look so tired!"
"You noticed? Yeah, it was kind of a sleepless night to be honest."
"If you worry too much, there's a great pharmacist at the corner of this street. You should go there."
"Well, I might take a look, thanks Kiva. See you next time."
"Hopefully not too soon, take care of yourself Mr. Fullbuster. Have a nice day!"
If it was this visible that he nearly didn't sleep yesterday night, what would she think about Lucy? He went to the pharmacist Kiva told him about to get something for her. He could just sleep it off, but she couldn't… and it had been going on for weeks. As he neared the pharmacist, it looked kind of strange. You couldn't even tell it was a pharmacist. It was a rather old house with the word pharmacist on a cardboard attached to the door. When he entered, an old woman looked at him from behind the counter. She had a golden rod in her pink hair with a crescent moon attached on the ends of it. As Gray didn't say anything, she asked rudely: "Do you need something?"
Noticing that he was staring, he coughed to clear his throat before speaking.
"Euhm… A friend told me that this was a good pharmacy to buy something against sleeplessness and nightmares."
"You've got nightmares, huh? It doesn't look that serious."
"No…It's not for me. It's actually for a friend."
"I never heard that one before. Then come back with your 'friend' and I'll give the right medicine."
Gray didn't know what to do; this woman didn't even try to be nice. How could he convince her that he wasn't lying? A pharmacist should listen to their patients and be friendly right? But because Kiva said she was good, he pressed on as he put both of his hands on the counter.
"It's really serious and I'm not lying, she's been having the same nightmare since weeks."
"She has the same one? Curious…"
"Yes, I've been with her yesterday night and I couldn't wake her up, she mumbled some weird language and woke up herself. Could you just please give something that will make her sleep in peace?"
"You're so persistent… Does she practice magic?"
"Yes she does actually, celestial magic."
"Celestial?! You don't encounter that everyday… Nightmares, weeks… Fine boy, if you're lying to me, I'll deny any authority that I've ever given this to you. I'm not going to pay the consequences if you know what I mean. Tell her to take a spoonful of this when she wants to sleep. Don't let her take it in the day. That will be 50 jewels. "
Shocked that she was this easily convinced when she heard Lucy was a 'celestial mage' Gray hesitated but paid and took the bag with the medicine. She motioned him to go back outside: "Alright, bye now."
When he was out the door he stood still for a moment. Well, that was the weirdest encounter he ever had. Looking back at the shop, the black letters on the cardboard had some smaller ones under it: Porlyusica.
As he walked back to the mansion, the market was less busy as everyone went home to eat. He wondered what the maids would've made for lunch as his stomach growled. He suddenly felt hungry by the thought of food. When he made it to the kitchen, the maids gave him a couple of simple sandwiches wrapped up in a bag and he thanked them with a bit of disappointment in his voice before leaving. Eggs and bacon would've been nice. Walking past the mansion to the place where he was going to plant the seeds, a shimmer appeared in the corner of his eye when he saw one of Lucy's celestial spirits carrying her. Loke seemed to put her down and disappeared before Gray could say hi to him. He noticed Lucy was wearing strange clothes and she seemed to sneak around. He stared in wonder as to what she was planning while biting from one of his sandwiches. She never failed to amuse him.
She looked around and suddenly saw him standing there, staring at her. A blush appeared on her cheeks and she ran towards him, dragging him along to the back of the garden. Gray let himself be guided and they reached the wall which marked the end of the Heartfilia ground. They went through a small gate in the wall, hidden by bushes and ivy. Behind the wall there was an open space surrounded by trees. This used to be their secret training spot. She pushed away the nostalgia and turned to look at Gray.
"Gray, I am leaving this place. I have my keys and some money with me."
"You're running away with only your keys and money?" He looked at her very tight outfit and mockingly asked: "...in those clothes?"
"Yes, shhh. Don't be too loud. I told the maids I was sick. Do you want to come with me?"
"Hey, don't drag me into this. You'll probably be back in a couple of days."
"Gray I mean it. I'm really going this time."
"Sure, like the last two times?"
He knew he was irritating her, but he also knew that she had tried this before and her dad always found her and brought her back. By any means necessary. She would cry for days when she got back and his shoulder would be hers to cry on.
"Ok, fine. Then you don't come with me. Goodbye and thanks for everything."
She hugged him way too tight for comfort and turned around to continue to the deeper forest next to the Heartfilia border. He couldn't leave it at that, so he took her by her wrist to stop her.
"Come on Lucy, what did he do this time? Maybe it was a misunderstanding."
He saw her tense up. She looked at him with fear and disgust mixed in her expression.
"He… He got me an arranged marriage."
Several thoughts passed Gray's head. She got an arranged marriage. How had he not seen this coming? Sooner or later her father would do this. He shouldn't be so surprised. He couldn't deny she was becoming a gorgeous woman with all the assets a lady should have, physically and mentally. It was understandable her father would arrange this to give her a good future with a rich man. That's why the hall had more flowers and the gardeners asked Kiva for roses next week. They were preparing. Everything fit into place and somehow, he couldn't find out how he exactly thought of it. Angry? Sad? Happy? No, definitely not happy… Hurt? The only thing he knew was he didn't want it to happen, not this soon. As the thought sunk in, he let her wrist go and Lucy repeated her previous statement because he didn't react like she expected him to, as though he hadn't heard what she just said, as though his world had to be crushed a second time.
"My father got me an arranged marriage next week and I'll meet the guy this Saturday. He expects me to fall in love and become Mrs. Eucliffe in a week. In a week! Can you believe it?! Euhm… Gray? Why are you taking off your clothes?"
Looking at his disposed abs again, Gray sighed and put his clothes back on. He made his decision and said to her to stay there until he came back. He left his lunch there, along with the seeds he bought this morning and went back to his room in the mansion. Taking a bag from under his bed, he loaded some clothes in it and a sleeping bag he had bought in case Jude would kick him out. He went back to Lucy, trying not to alarm the maids and took her hand to guide her through the forest without a word, going straight for the train station. He bought them a one way ticket to Magnolia, the second to last stop before the coast. Her father would think she wanted to go as far away as possible, so the coast would be too obvious. Lucy stayed quiet the whole way and tried to hide her face and golden hair as much as possible. They entered the train and found some empty seats. It finally seemed ok to talk as they were safely on a train. She looked at him.
"So… Are you okay leaving your job like that?"
"Well this time you are seriously running away so if you run and don't come back I'll be all alone with your father and he'll accuse me for the fact you left. So… I'd rather stick with you then."
He tried to be cool about it, but he knew she could read him like no one else could. She knew he was anxious about leaving and about the marriage too. She didn't say anything about it and just smiled that gorgeous smile of hers. She only smiled genuinely on rare occasions so he couldn't turn away from it and smiled along.
"I'm glad you're here Gray, thanks. So… what are we going to do once we arrive?"
"Find somewhere to sleep, probably somewhere not too obvious for the first nights. We'll figure the rest out on the way."
Title: KONGOS – Come with me now
Thank you for reading!