A/N: Thank you everyone for all the love and support of this story. :3
It really does mean a lot for me. And I should warn you now… Things may seem like they're heading one way, but in the end, they'll end up going in a totally different direction. ;D

I try to make it impossible to jump to the right conclusion. X3

Anyway, thank you for the reviews, cuz:

They mean a lot to me. Like A LOT A LOT.

They make me feel loved

When I find something that makes me loved, I tend to do it a lot… Hence, I am inspired to write more chapters at a more frequent interval. X3

Now enjoy! :D

Edited October 9, 2011.

"Gray, you're being ridiculous. Lucy does have a point you know."

The Ice Mage in question did nothing but roll his eyes. He had come here to lecture Cana. Not the other way around. And yet, here he was, listening to a speech spoken by his friend half-heartedly.

"Are you even listening to me anymore? !" Cana asked, an exasperated tone in her voice.

Gray sighed. He could either lie and be caught, or tell the truth and be somewhat embarrassed.

Before he could make a decision though, it seemed as if Cana had managed to read his mind. "There's no point in lying you know. I already placed an anti-lie spell about the room. Lie to me, and you'll start having random spasms on the floor," she warned.

Gray groaned as he tried to rationalize with himself. With another dejected sigh, he asked, "What did Lucy tell you?"

"She said that you thought that getting Jellal out of jail was a bad idea, then she went on about how she thought that you were being selfish. She failed to mention why she felt that way however."

Gray couldn't help but let the most minute grin appear on his face. At least he knew one person in Fairy Tail who could hold her tongue. "Well, you do have to admit: It's not the best idea. I mean, there's so much to lose if we get caught. And even if we do break him out of jail, what then? We'll probably be the first people the Council will come to question. We can't hide him forever."

Cana, who had stood up to pour herself and her guest a drink, shot Gray a sideways glance before speaking slowly, as if she wasn't sure how to word what she wanted to say. "I understand what you mean… but I have a feeling that this situation means something more to you than one of Natsu's other ideas." She made her way over to where Gray sat, and handed him a beer. They each avoided each other's gaze.

It wasn't until Cana finally grew tired of the silence that she spoke again. "I've known you since forever. All of you. You may be able to lie to them, but you can't lie to me that easily."

Gray let out the breath he had been holding in an annoyed fashion. "Well, right now I can't lie. What about your spell?"

Cana rolled her eyes, and simply snapped her fingers. "Fine, have it your way. But even without the spell, it'll be hard for you to lie to me. Face it, Gray, I know you too well."

The ice mage went back to avoiding his friend's calm gaze, and played with his fingers that were still grasping the beer bottle as he muttered, "Touché."

Gently, Cana sat beside her longtime friend and simply waited for him to say something. She wasn't stupid. If she kept pushing him for an answer, then he was never going to give her one. She simply had to wait for him to make the first move.

"How are you and Macao?"

There was only so much Cana could do to force herself to not wring Gray's throat for avoiding her question, but she simply sighed and answered his question anyway. "I'm not even sure. Honestly? I think I might… not like him as much as I used to."

This caused Gray to look up. "Oh?"

"I don't know. I'm realizing that… well… maybe we don't stand a chance. And that… maybe I can do better than someone who's already been divorced once and has a kid. You know?"

Gray nodded slowly. "What kind of someone are you looking for?"

Cana paused, as if she were considering this for a moment. "Definitely someone that can keep up with my drinking. I definitely don't want someone who passes out only after their twentieth drink or so. And maybe…. Someone that really understands me, someone that's easy to talk to. You know?" Gray nodded again. After a short silence, Cana quietly asked, "What about you?"

Gray too seemed to ponder the question for a short while. "Someone that is able to read through me, but knows exactly when to share tell me what they already know. Someone who isn't afraid to know me, inside-out. Someone who knows exactly how I work, and knows how to talk to me about… touchy subjects without getting my nerves up."

The awkward silence resumed. And each looked down to their hands that were attached to their beers.

Slowly, their gazes finally met each other's.

It was at that moment that Gray realized that he had already down a satisfactory fourty-nine beers, and surprisingly still wanted more. Realized that he had been the quick pick of Makarov to talk some sense into Cana, that he had just gotten a lot of personal information out of her in just a brief hour or so.

At that same moment, Cana was realizing similar things. She understood Gray and his entire system of thinking, and had just admit it to herself not too long ago. She forced herself to admit that she actually enjoyed listening to Gray and all his personal issues. She had just started talking to him about something that was obviously a touchy subject for him, yet he had not yelled at her once.

Both realized, that at that very moment, they were practically perfect for each other.

Right after that instant, they each turned their heads away, their cheeks stained a bright crimson.

"Maybe I should—"

"I think that it's time—"

They both looked at each other in shock, surprised expressions on their faces. Then once more, they each looked away.

Gray downed his beer, and Cana placed her already-empty bottle on the coffee table. Soon afterward, Gray did the same.

Slowly, he stood up, and clutched the jacket he was sporting tighter around his body. Cana stood too, hugging her arms since her blouse wasn't keeping her very warm. Slightly behind him, they walked towards the door. Gray carefully put his fingers around the doorknob, but before he twisted it to the right, he shot a shy look at the girl behind him.

"Bye, Cana."

"Bye, Gray," she whispered before slowly bringing her gaze down to her feet again.

He turned his gaze forward once more, then twisted the knob slightly. He couldn't help but shoot one look at her again before pulling the door open. He shot her a small, timid smile that she probably didn't see, then silently made his way out of the room.

Cana looked up at the door as it slowly closed behind tried to sort out her thoughts, but she wasn't very sure what to think of what had just happened to the two friends.

I thought he swore never to visit Fairy Hills again. Did he really care so much about my drinking problems that he actually broke his own vow?

She thought about it some more, and then shook the thought away. She walked purposely over to the kitchen, and pulled out her final beer bottle in a seemingly casual way.

I had thought that Makarov was paying him to talk to me about my alcohol issues… He wasn't doing a very good job if he drank so much beer with me…. Or did he really just want to talk to me…?

I can't believe that he shared so much with me. . . I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?

Did he really drink as much beer as I did? Did he even drink more?

And that feeling I felt in my chest…

The look I saw in his eyes…

But I thought he liked…

"Erza? You alright?"

The scarlet-haired girl looked up in surprise. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't even realized that a beautiful white-haired mage had been staring directly at her for quite some time. "Yeah… I'm fine, Lisanna."

The younger girl frowned, obviously not convinced. "You sure? You haven't seemed to be very…. Erza -likelately."

Erza forced herself to let out a laugh. "And how do you define Erza?"

Lisanna blinked, pausing for a moment to gather her words before she spoke. "Well, you're tough. You seem to never really show emotion about things. You almost always have some kind of armor on you, and you usually take the responsibility of keeping Gray and Natsu from fighting. Plus you also—"

Erza forced a grin, and interrupted her. "Ah, so this is about you and Lucy being too lazy to look after Gray and Natsu yourselves, huh? Well, they're your men, so you should—"

"What do you mean our men?" Lisanna asked a somewhat offended tone to her voice.

Erza looked at the younger mage curiously. "Well, I always thought that… you and Natsu…" Lisanna looked away as she realized what the older mage had implied, but her cheeks were colored a bright red. "Lucy and Gray… I always looked at you guys together and saw you as a couple."

Lisanna simply shrugged. "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about. I can easily say that Natsu and I are simply just friends…"

Erza let a genuine playful smile grace her features. "Riiiight."

Lisanna's blush became brighter. "B-B-Besides… him and Lucy… since I've been gone…"

Erza rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure about that. You have a huge chance with Natsu. I think that you're the only girl that he's ever felt romantic feelings for!"

Lisanna frowned and looked away. "Knowing Natsu, he could easily get the feelings of romance and friendship confused… I think to him it's like the same thing…"

Erza raised an eyebrow. "It sounds to me like your childhood crush hasn't gone away yet."

Lisanna's frown deepened, but her blush continued to grow brighter. "Erza-San, I—"

"'S everything alright ladies?" Natsu exclaimed playfully, a large smile on his face as he seemed to pop out of nowhere, interrupting their discussion.

The poor, white-haired mage couldn't help but jump from his sudden arrival, "N-N-Natsu!"

The pink-haired boy blinked, obviously confused at his friend's reaction. "Yes, Lisanna?"

Seeing that the younger girl seemed completely helpless, Erza stepped in to help her out, waving her hand as if to wave away Natsu's confusion, "It's nothing Natsu. You just surprised her is all." Lisanna blinked, and quickly nodded in agreement with the cover story. She seemed to be calming down too, which was a good thing.

"Oh. Well, what's up? You two seemed to be having an interesting conversation. Look at you Lisanna, you're as red as a tomato!"

They both laughed, and for a split second, Erza saw herself and Jellal laughing, instead of Natsu and Lisanna. She quickly shook the thought away, absentmindedly stating, "Ah, I have to go. I'm having a headache, which was what Lisanna and I were talking about, but I interrupted her while she was helping Mira out which is why she was so flushed. All the running back and forth must not be good for one's body." The added story to the excuse stumbled its way out of her mouth, but Erza wasn't really too concerned about how much sense it made. Natsu would pretty much buy anything.

And as she suspected, she was right. The dragonslayer nodded, large grin still on his face as he exclaimed, "Feel better!" before resuming his conversation with Lisanna. Erza smiled at the two, before standing up out of her chair, and heading towards the doow.

As soon as he was sure Erza was gone, Natsu leaned in to whisper, "They're leaving tomorrow."

A/N: I really hope you liked it! This chapter was super duper fun to write. ;D

Please review, because they're extremely appreciated!