A/N: I've decided to continue this story. If you want to keep the simple ending displayed in the first chapter, then just DON'T continue reading. XD
I mean, at least you have an option, so it pretty much is the perfect solution for me. ;D

DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did than I would be drawing everywhere I went. XD

Edited on October 25, 2011. :)

"Gray, are you sure you weren't just imagining things?" Lucy asked skeptically. Gray couldn't really blame her for not believing him. What he had just shared with Lucy and Natsu seemed very. . . out of the blue.

Gray nodded half-heartedly, now beginning to see that sharing this news probably wasn't the best idea. "I didn't want to believe it either. . ."

The trio was sitting around Lucy's small dining table which was meant to sit a maximum of two people, but Natsu hadn't hesitated to pull up a chair. Gray had actually taken the courtesy to call Lucy and give her a heads up that he would be stopping by to talk to her, which Lucy herself found incredibly shocking. Natsu of course, had simply followed Gray to her place, and that was that.

Lucy was thrust back into the present when Natsu banged his fist on the wooden surface of her table, causing her to flinch. "I am not going to deal with the fact that one of my nakama is depressed! We have to do something you guys, don't you understand! ?" His eyes were full of a strange mixture of both sympathy and anger, and it was obvious by his expression that he wouldn't let the subject drop unless a solution was found.

Lucy and Gray slowly let their gazes meet, identical faces of slight worry resident on both. Gray broke the gaze, and downed the beer that was clutched tightly in his left hand. It was Lucy who slowly turned her head to face Natsu. "Well. . . What do you have planned?"

Natsu smirked deviously. "What do you guys think? Put together the pieces. Erza is sad because when Jellal finally turned back into himself, he was put into jail for the rest of his life. . ." He looked between the two eagerly, wondering if they were clever enough to catch his drift.

Both Lucy and Gray stared at him in confusion until Gray let out a groan of annoyance. "Look, Natsu. I completely understand what you're saying, but. . . all the possible consequences. . ."

Lucy's eyes widened, suddenly becoming worried at what Natsu might've cooked up in his mind. Now desperate to find out about Natsu's scheme, she eagerly turned to look at her two comrades. "What are you guys talking about! ?"

Natsu stuck out his bottom lip in an immature pout and looked away. Gray grit his teeth, before turning the scowl on his face towards Lucy. "Don't you get it? He wants us to break Jellal out of jail."

If it was possible, Lucy's eyes widened more before she stared at Natsu in complete shock, her mouth agape.

It took a while, but Natsu eventually met both her and Gray's heated stares. "You both make it sound like I'm not making any sense, but you guys are the ones that aren't making any sense!"

Lucy sighed, suddenly feeling bad. "I understand where you're coming from Natsu. . . but breaking someone out of jail. . . that's pretty difficult, not to mention risky. . ."

"I agree with Lucy. And I don't even know if that's what Erza wants! I overheard her reaction while I got lost in that crazy house." Gray couldn't stop himself from shuddering slightly. "She could've just been PMSing, or maybe just letting out her feelings. . . .It's probably not what she really wants anyway. She has to get over Jellal at some point, so we should just let this run her course. She'll get over it eventually."

Natsu opened his mouth to respond, but it was Lucy that reacted first.

Eyes narrowed, she stood up out of her chair, leaned across the table, and slapped Gray's cheek as hard as she possibly could, before slamming both of her fists down onto the table. The table quivered under the force of her fists, but managed to resist breaking. Both Natsu and Gray were wide-eyed at her violent actions, and Gray gingerly rubbed his cheek, getting ready to yell at her, but Lucy cut him off. "How can you be so selfish! ? I always thought that you were better than that!"

Gray growled at her, but was still unable to stop the blush from appearing onto his cheeks. He too stood up and banged his own fists onto the table, his strength causing it to split into two. Natsu jumped out of his chair in surprise, subconsciously backing away from the two fighters, something that was out of the ordinary for him. Under normal circumstances, he would've jumpws right into the argument, but at this point in time, he wasn't even entirely sure what the two were fighting about. On the other hand, the breaking of the table made Lucy even more upset, since it was her table after all. But before she could commence yelling at him, he cut her off. "What are you talking about! ? How am I being selfish? ! I'm just as concerned for Erza as either of you are!"

Lucy let out a short, angry laugh. "I'm not stupid, Gray! I always knew you had a thing for Erza! What you just said confirmed my suspicions!"

Gray stared at her, his expression full of shock. He was obviously speechless. Natsu was equally surprised, especially since he hadn't noticed anything of the sort from his rival.

Lucy laughed wryly again, anger obviously taking control of her emotions. "I don't understand you. At all." Her tone was bitter, and unrelenting. "You're saying that you care for Erza so much, but you just want her for yourself. You don't actually care for her feelings." As the words left her mouth, she suddenly realized how hard she had finally snapped. Taking in Gray's blank expression, her eyes seemed to widen, and she shook her head as though trying to shake away the memory of her words. "W-Wait. . . I-I didn't mean—"

Gray glared at her, making her cutoff her own sentence, "Don't ever say that. You don't know what you're talking about."

A flash of offense flashed on the Celestial Spirit Mage's face, and Natsu watched as she clenched her fists tightly. He had the strong feeling that if they fought, it wouldn't be the friendly kind of fight that he was used to participating in, but a serious fight that could possibly ruin the relationship of his two nakama. Stepping between the two, he spread out his hands, "Hey, you guys. . . Fighting won't help anyone. Don't start anything stupid."

Both Gray and Lucy turned to the DragonSlayer, simultaneously saying, "Coming from you, Natsu." Natsu's affronted expression couldn't stop them from glancing at one another and laughing, the air of argument leaving their minds temporarily as thoughts of teasing Natsu entered them.

It was as though Natsu was completely oblivious to the fact that Lucy was teasing him just as much as Gray, because the pink-haired mage stomped over to his fellow male, a menacing expression taking hold of his features. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

There was still a small smile on Gray's lips as he rose a single eyebrow, obviously not taking Natsu seriously, "What's it to ya?"

The simple question seemed to increase Natsu's anger, seeing as flames began to escape from the fire mage's mouth, aiming directly for Gray's face. A smirk still on his face, the ice mage was easily able to dodge the blow, especially since he was expecting something like that. Instead of hitting its target, the flames attached themselves to Lucy's curtains, but to his credit, Gray froze them to make sure that the fire wouldn't spread. It was obvious by this that Natsu hadn't used his full strength in those flames, which was why Gray was able to freeze it so easily.

Eyes wide, Lucy could do nothing but yell, "Are you seriously doing this in my apartment! ?"

Natsu had a devilish grin on his face, "Gray?"

It was as though Gray had completely forgotten the bad mood he had previously been in, because he still had that large smirk on his face, "Luce, we'll take this outside."

Lucy managed a smile, and opened her mouth to thank him, but before she could, Gray tackled Natsu, and the two toppled out of her closed window, shattering the glass as they fell onto the asphalt, still duking it out. Lucy shielded her face from the flying shards, her face twitching slightly. "NATSU! GRAY!"

She dashed to her window to peer out of it. Sure enough, Gray was left in nothing but his boxers as he sent ice flying towards Natsu, and Natsu was laughing maniacally as he shot flame after flame at Gray. The pedestrians around them were hurriedly trying to avoid the magic that was flying everywhere, and an elderly man stopped to yell at the two mages, angrily waving his cane in the air, "Ya stupid whippersnappers! Leave me be!"

Lucy had formerly decided that she was going to let the two settle things themselves without getting involved, but when Gray and Natsu stopped their fight to turn to the angry old man and simultaneously yell, "SCREW YOU!" before firing a load of magic in his general direction, she realized that she had to get involved if she wanted Magnolia to remain intact.

She fumbled with the keys attached to her belt, hoping that she could find the proper one before the poor old man could be hit by Gray and Natsu's careless magic. Finally finding the one she was looking for, she thrust it upwards in the air, "Open a gate to the clock! Horologium!"

Luckily, it seemed like her Celestial Spirit knew what she had intended. The spirit enclosed the frightened pedestrian inside him, getting there just in time to protect him from Gray and Natsu's blow.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned her gaze back to Natsu and Gray to see how they had reacted.

Of course, it seemed like they didn't really care for the welfare of the old man at all, and they had resumed battling each other like there was no tomorrow.

Vein throbbing in her forehead, Lucy stomped out of her apartment, and onto the street where the two were still battling. She assumed that Horologium had returned to the spirit world and that the old man had run away, for there was no trace of either of them. Effortlessly, she walked through the makeshift battlefield, and by miracle, managed not to get hit by any of the flying ice or flames. She didn't stop until she got to the center of the battle zone, and even then, she didn't have the full attention of Gray and Natsu.

"Stop it, you guys!"

The two ignored her, and continued to fight.

Gritting her teeth, Lucy screamed it louder this time, "STOP IT, YOU GUYS!"

She remained ignored.

Steam was all but escaping through her ears, but it seemed to disappear as a lightbulb flashed beside Lucy's head. Her chocolate brown eyes squinted as she stared off in a single direction, before she yelled, "Oh, is that Erza?"

Immediately, the fray ended, and within the blink of an eye, Gray and Natsu had their arms around each other, fake grins on each of their faces. "E-Erza!"

"Aye!"

Lucy couldn't stop herself from laughing hysterically. Finally realizing what their blonde friend had done, both Natsu and Gray sweatdropped.

When the Stellar Spirit Mage finished laughing, she turned to her two friends, a large smile on her face, "Let's get something to eat. My treat."

Gray grinned, throwing an arm around Lucy's shoulders as he fistpumped the air, screaming, "Hell yeah!"

Natsu was also smiling stupidly, one of his arms around Lucy's shoulders as well, "Yes! Free food!"

Together the three made their way towards a nearby café. However, before they got there, Natsu stopped them before stepping in front. "Hey, while we're there, we can talk about my plan to get Jellal out of jail!"

Lucy and Gray stopped, and for a second, fright passed through Lucy's eyes. "Natsu, you shouldn't go around screaming things like that. . . Someone might here us and get the wrong idea!"

The DragonSlayer frowned, "Wrong idea? But you guys agreed to my plan!"

Lucy and Gray stared at him incredulously, and in unison, they exasperatedly yelled, "WHEN THE HELL DID WE SAY THAT! ?"

"Erza? What's the matter, honey?"

The scarlet-haired mage let a slow grimace appear on her face at the usage of the word "honey." Yet, she slowly moved her gaze from her toes to Mirajane's face. "How did you do it, Mira? When you lost Lisanna, how did you get over the pain?"

Mira frowned slightly, curious as to where this was heading. She paused, before saying, "By singing."

The sadness on Erza's face seemed to increase, and she looked away dejectedly. "Beer me."

A worried expression replaced the previous one on Mira's face, but she still complied to Erza's wishes. As Erza gulped down her alcoholic beverage, Mira asked the simple question. "Why did you want to know?"

Erza sighed, then gestured for another beer. While Mira turned to get her one, she continued to speak. "I don't know. I think I just wanted. . ." She sighed as Mira twirled to face her again to pass her the alcoholic beverage, cutting herself off with a pained expression. It seemed as though she was trying to hide it from the blue-eyed girl, because she tried to cover it up by downing the beer.

Still, Mirajane was not one to be easily fooled. A slow understanding spread across the kind face of the woman, as she quietly whispered with pity and understanding, "You wanted to get rid of the pain and weren't sure how."

Erza stared at her for a moment before biting her lower lip slightly and banging her head onto the bar table, covering it with her arms.

Mira's eyes widened, and she quickly pat Erza's hair in an odd form of consolation. "Oh, Sweetie. . ." Her eyes widened even more in slight horror as she noticed the quiet sobs racking the scarlet-haired mage's body.

After a few of moments of nothing but Erza's heavy breathing, Mira slowly lowered her face to stare directly at Erza's forehead. Even more slowly, Erza raised her head just enough so that she could stare back at Mira with her red-rimmed eyes.

Mirajane's deep blue eyes sparkled as she asked, "What can I do to help you?"

Several miles away from Fairy Tail and the town of Magnolia, a man tied by his wrists and ankles with cold, heavy iron lay bareback against the left wall of his jail cell.

His blue hair hung in a messy fashion down his forehead. His dark eyes stared blankly at the plain rock before him.

Erza. . .

A single tear fell out of the corner of his eye.