Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima, and the Maxwell sisters belong to me.

This story was originally posted to DeviantART in 2018.

Valentine's Day was celebrated all over the city of Magnolia, from sweethearts presenting each other with gifts to young children giving their crafty valentines to their loving parents. There were also other couples indulging in on sweet Valentine desserts at bakeries and restaurants that they had to make reservations ahead of time to get their seats. But at the Fairy Tail guild hall, there would be more than just sweets and lovely gifts that would be going on…

Ariella was sitting by herself at a table across from the bar with her basket in front of her. She had completed another day of work at the town's flower shop owned by her elderly boss, Adela, but her mind was fixated on the whereabouts of the man she loved dearly: Freed Justine. He had been missing from the guild all afternoon and there was no sign of him everywhere she looked. Not even the guild members knew if they had seen him.

With a low sigh, Ariella shook her head and hung low with her eyes glancing downward at her basket. Inside was a special gift for him, as she had worked so hard on it and she was dedicated to surprise him with it. But now, she felt that she had lost her chance after having no luck finding him.

Freed…, she thought of him. It's not like you to just be absent at this guild. Where in the world could you possibly be?

In the midst of her worried thinking, Bickslow's five dolls sneaked up right behind her and they called to her in an attempt to grab her attention:

"Ari! Ari!"

The Nature Mage turned her head to see the dolls hovering around her with excitement, and her pale blue eyes were blinking with curiosity.

"What's going on?" she asked them. "What is it?"

"It's Freed! It's Freed! It's Freed!"

Her eyes suddenly beamed up, to her relief that Freed had to be somewhere in the city rather than in the guild.

"Freed? What about him?" she questioned eagerly.

"He's waiting! For you!" Peppe answered her.

"Where?" she inquired again. "Tell me where he is!"

"The park! The park!" all five dolls replied, drifting themselves all around Ariella's head together in excitement.

Realizing that they were referring to the town's grand park, Ari said of it to herself:

"The Southgate Park…"

"Follow us! Follow us!" Pappa chimed in, twirling itself around briefly before leaving.

Once the other four dolls tagged along, Ari rose up from her seat with her basket on hand and raced out of the guild hall behind them.

I have no idea what Freed has for me, she thought to herself. I'll be ready to find out once I arrive at the park!

After a dash throughout the downtown area of Magnolia that felt like a marathon to her, Ariella finally reached the entrance to the Southgate Park to catch her breath. All the running she did had depleted quite much of her energy and she could feel her heart racing at a rapid pace.

That was some race out there…, she mentally mused. It took us about twenty minutes to reach our destination.

"We're here! We're here!" the dolls said to her, floating around her again.

Ari glanced up to see the open gateway to the park, as the afternoon sunshine was gleaming brightly and a pair of bluebirds flew above them. As much as she wanted to saunter through the gate and look for Freed, Ari was beginning to have doubts about it. What if he didn't have something for her in return? What if he was wrong about waiting for her in the park and never showed up at all? That would absolutely leave her heartbroken, as he had been very important to her and she would no longer be herself without him in her life.

"I don't know if I can do this…," she said to them. "I'm worried that he's not gonna be there…"

The dolls were whispering amongst themselves, as they were secretly hatching a plan to motivate her and erase her doubts. A minute later, they gathered around her and cheered in unison:

"Go, Ari! Go, Ari!"

"Alright. I'll go," Ari replied to them with a nod.

Once the dolls floated away from her, the Nature Mage entered through the gate and into the park. The moment she stepped onto the dirt pathway, her eyes widened in surprise and she suddenly paused, causing her to drop her basket onto the ground. A light pink blush tinted on her fair-skinned face and her heart began to flutter like a butterfly near a rose bush as her eyes fixated on Freed, who was standing underneath the park's colossal tree.

It's him…! she exclaimed internally.

"You made it just in time, Ariella," he said to her. "No need for you to be apprehensive. Please proceed to the tree, as a special surprise awaits you."

After she picked up her basket, Ariella resumed sauntering down the path toward the tree, unaware that Bickslow was observing her from behind the open gateway. His dolls were hovering around him as he turned to Ari's younger sister Juno and her best friend, Lisanna. They were the ones planning the rendezvous alongside Freed from the very start, and they were able to keep it a secret from her as promised to him.

"I hope this'll go well," he said to them.

"Let's keep quiet and see if it does," Lisanna replied to him in a whisper.

The three mages continued to peek from the gate and paid close attention to Ari and Freed standing under the tree together. They were anxious about how their plan will work out on the couple, as Freed was the strategic one of the Thunder Legion.

"Freed…," Ari said to him. "I was concerned about you, as you have not been in the guild all day today. I have a special Valentine's Day present for you and I've worked hard enough to complete it in time."

"I understand," Freed replied to her. "About my gift for you… I, too, shared my dedication into finishing it by this holiday. I would never let you down."

"Neither would I, Freed. Now, I will go first in this exchange."

Ariella uncovered a white linen cloth from her basket to reveal a bouquet of red roses adorned with a dark red ribbon tied onto the stems. Freed's face tinted a peachy pink blush and his teal eyes beamed in surprise the moment they laid on the roses.

"Ariella…," he said to her. "These are beautiful roses. I have gotten roses for you a few times in the past, but I didn't expect you to do the same this year."

"I figured that they would make a wonderful addition to your home, Freed," Ari replied with a smile, as she handed the bouquet over to him. "I would suggest placing them in a vase and changing its water once daily to help them last longer."

"Of course I will. Thank you."

Even though they were still observing, Bickslow, Lisanna and Juno were in awe by Ari's present for Freed. They figured right away that their scheme was going as planned, even though it did get off to a rocky start due to Freed's late return from a solo mission.

"I love Ari's bouquet!" Lisanna said to the others quietly. "These red roses are exquisite."

"I've seen him give roses to her before, but it's just as sweet when she gives one to him!" Bickslow added.

"Alright, now let's see what he's got for her," Juno whispered to them. "This'll better be good."

With his present from Ariella being exchanged first, it was now Freed's turn to present her with his. He had earned plenty of Jewels by going on solo missions to find the exact gift she wanted him to buy for her, and he had high hopes that she would be pleased with it.

"Here is something other than flowers, which you normally are passionate about," he said to her, taking out a velvet box from his left coat pocket.

After taking it from him, the Nature Mage's eyes gazed down at the box and she was curious to find out what was inside. Her heart was fluttering once again, as her hand gradually reached for the box and opened it up.

A rhinestone necklace with a peridot teardrop-shaped gemstone in the center was glimmering in the sunlight, and to her, it was as if she discovered a luxurious piece of treasure.

"Freed… the peridot is my birthstone and it's exactly what I wanted," she said to him, her pale blue eyes gazing into his teal ones. "Thank you so much. I will take very good care of it."

"I am glad you loved it," Freed replied with a smile. "It wouldn't had been a special day for us without the gifts we selected."

Yes! She loves the gift! Bickslow thought, raising his right fist in front of him. Way to go, Freed!

"This exchange was a success! Let's notify the others right away!" Lisanna whispered to the others.

Juno and Bickslow nodded in unison, and the three mages hurried off from the park in search of Lisanna's elder siblings, Mirajane and Elfman, and the other Thunder Legion member Evergreen. They were really eager to tell how it all went down with the plan they worked alongside Freed, but they would also be willing to find out how Ari will react if they finally told her of their plan. She would be in for a bewildering surprise, besides the sparkling necklace that she had always wanted to get from the man she loved.

The End

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope this story left you lovestruck! Please, be courteous when reviewing.