© Hiro Mashima
Disclaimer: I didn't own Fairy Tail, Mashima-sensei did.
The Differences Between 8 Years Ago and Now.
I was 17. At that time, what did a seventeen years old girl was thinking? Oh that's right, boys.
For me, one boy in particular. His name is Gray. He was, no I guess he is still the most handsome, most dignified, smartest, and most athletic guy that ever existed.
Gray was tall and muscular. He got a spiky black hair with two dark blue eyes. Most of the time he would wore this sword necklace with a stone in it. And no matter what he wore, I would still think he's the most charming man in the whole wide world.
He got a soft side, because beneath that cool looking look of his, he is actually a nice guy. He couldn't stand girls that cry and he would always try to cheer his friend up.
Gray liked to joke around. He was a very relaxed person, laid-back and didn't take many things seriously. But when the time called, I know he could be one of the most reliable guys I could count on.
And I guess that's why I fell in love with him. Head over heels.
So anyway, who am I?
My name is Lucy Heartfillia, and now I am 25 years old. Old? Yeah sort of if you guys are still in high school. But I would rather consider myself still young and beautiful, compared to all those teen moms (yeah, I watch MTV), even though they are much much younger than me.
Then again, why am I talking about me when I was 17? Because I want to share you guys the tragic love story of Lucy Heartfillia.
Okay, let's begin. To start this story I need to tell you guys about a best friend of mine, called Natsu Dragneel. He has a pink hair, a large pointy black eyes and a slightly tan skin. His most prominent feature, despite his pink spiky hair, is his large toothy grin.
Natsu was a complete opposite of Gray. He was noisy, not that smart academically, and always brought trouble. No matter where he was, things will always lighten up. Gray and Natsu were rivals; they would battle for pretty much anything. But due to the fact that I like Gray, Natsu was kind enough to back off at times.
Don't get it wrong, Natsu and I have a normal friendship, with no romantics feeling involve at all. But then one day, something really weird happen.
Even though Natsu and Gray would love to beat each other, they were actually close friend. We used to hang out a lot of times together, with Erza too (tell you about Erza later). And then one day, Gray asked this really weird question.
"So, are you and Natsu dating?"
When I was 17, my inner response to that would be: OH MY GOD WHY IS HE ASKING ME? WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO DO? IS THIS BECAUSE HE LIKES ME? WHY IS HE ASKING THIS? NO LUCY STOP THINKING AND ANSWER NO HE MIGHT WANT TO ASK YOU OUT!
But now my inner self would knock the head of my old self and say: JUST SHUT UP AND SAY NO!
It was too late though. Natsu answered that question first, and unexpectedly in a very calm manner. He said, "So what if we are?"
Yeah, the world was pretty much collapsing underneath my feet. Afterwards Gray just shrugged and continued doing whatever he was doing. I wanted to kill Natsu secretly using potassium cyanide and dumped his body in the ocean back then. No, maybe I should use a knife so that he could understand my suffering.
After Gray left, I dragged Natsu and bombarded him with question on what just happen. Natsu just leisurely answered that it was a test to figure out whether Gray really like me or not. If yes then he would try to chase me and if no then he would leave me.
At that time, I was so stupid innocent that I believed in what Natsu said. Thinking about it again, Natsu just probably wanted to tease me.
And anyway, long story short, I got friendzoned. For the rest of my high school life, Gray regarded me as only a mere citizen of Fairy Tail Academy (my school). Sometimes I wanted to run away and cry in my bedroom, but that would be pretty unreasonable since Gray and I haven't even begun dating yet.
At the end of our high school, I gave my yearbook to Gray and I just wanted to cuddle in a ball at the corner of the room when he wrote:
"Thanks for being such a great friend Lucy! Blablablabla"
I didn't really know what comes afterward, one because I was too lazy to read it, and two because I know there wouldn't be any confession of love in it.
But then, I still need to congratulate myself for being such a great friend. Yup, congratulations Lucy, you did a great job. Of becoming a great friend. Of the guy you like. Hooray.
O.O
Why am I bringing it up then, now that it had been eight years? The reason is because I am going to a reunion. My high school reunion.
I heard a knock on the door when I was just trying to wear my dress. A voice of a woman called my name, "Lucy, are you done?"
I yelled, "Yeah! In a minute!" and applied last touch of make up. I looked at myself in the mirror and nodded. I felt pretty satisfied.
I opened the door and found Erza standing in front of the television. My heart then sank. If I were called beautiful, then Erza would definitely be a goddess.
She wore a long purple dress with her hair tied up in a bun. Her hair, however, is no normal hair. Erza has a very beautiful red hair, I repeat, very beautiful red hair that would definitely left an impression in the heart of every men that met her.
Despite her gorgeous red hair, she also had a very pretty (sort of angelic) face. She is a very strict person, she is discipline and she likes strawberry cheesecake. I live with Erza in this small apartment, two bedrooms, just the two of us.
It is very nice to live with Erza since she is such a discipline and strict person. She divides the chores evenly, and her chores are always finished in time. Me? Well, let's not be off topic shall we.
Regardless of her beautiful and graceful composure, she is very strong. Physically and mentally. She took some martial arts lesson when she was young and she excelled in every bit of it. Guys even fear her.
But, that doesn't mean Erza couldn't find love. She has a boyfriend called Jellal. Her boyfriend was her childhood friend, and as far as I'm concerned, they never really fought. Well maybe a couple of times, but they always made up in the end.
They have been dating for eight years, ever since we were in Fairy Tail Academy. Jellal was the long-lost childhood friend that suddenly showed up in Fairy Tail Academy, and the sparks just fly. The two of them became so close that no one was surprised when they started to date.
Anyway, I stared at Erza with my mouth hanging open. Erza turned around and looked at me with a judging look. She nodded her head, "Very nice Lucy. I think Gray might like it."
My entire face blushed and I stuttered, "Wh… what! It's not like I'm excited to meet him or something. No! It's not like that…"
Erza raised her eyebrow, "Not like that? Then why do you keep on staring at that photo of his? That you keep on your wallet?"
Jackpot. I struggled to find the right word choice when Erza just nodded understandingly. She patted my shoulder, "I hope you meet him."
Urgh, of course I hope I'll meet him! I mean, meeting your first love is something, right? I just nodded casually to Erza and took my purse. "I hope you have a fun time with Jellal," I said.
"What are you talking about? We should try to have some fun with our friends instead, right?" replied Erza. I laughed. This is what I love about Erza, she always put her friends first.
I took her arms and we both walked out of the apartment.
O.O
I looked up and down at the mansion in front of us. I looked right to Erza who was also doing the same thing.
"Is this the right address?" I asked. Erza looked at the paper she held and nodded. We both looked at the mansion again and stared at it in awe. Whoever owns this house must be a f**king rich guy.
Just when we were hesitating to enter, I heard someone shouted from inside the mansion. "Lu-chan! Erza!" called that girl.
I tilted my head to the right and found a blue-haired girl running towards the gate. Hmm, who would call me Lu-chan?
Just as I was figuring the answer, the petite figure of Levy McGarden came to life. Levy-chan! Of course! She opened the huge gate with a press of the button and hugged both Erza and me.
"I missed you guys so much!" she shouted. Erza and I looked at each other and laughed before hugging Levy-chan back. It was nice to meet an old friend.
We entered the mansion together, with Erza and Levy standing next to me. As we were walking inside, I found a lot of familiar faces. There was Lisanna, Jet, Troy, Cana, Alzack, and Bisca. Oh, I also saw the playboy Loke. Never mind, crazy fan girls surrounded him. Wait, where did that girls came from?
We chatted and talked again like it was high school. How I miss that moment. Suddenly, Loke arrived and caused a ruckus. He kept on flirting with everyone and finally got a huge kick in the groin due to his bravery on flirting with Erza.
He painfully walked away. Everyone laughed watching him walked so limply. Loke then stopped and turned around, again gaining everyone's attention. "Hey, have you guys see Natsu?" he asked.
Ah of course, Natsu! There is no way Natsu would miss our high school reunion. Natsu must be late or something. But then Lisanna, one of Natsu's closest friends, answered, "Eh? You guys don't know? He is…"
But I never knew her answer as the MC suddenly started yelling so loud, "ALL RIGHT ALUMNI FROM FAIRY TAIL ACADEMY! ARE YOU GUYS READY TO ROCK?"
Why did he sound like a rock star? He cleared his throat and talked more slowly now, "EHEM I mean, welcome! Welcome all of you alumni of Fairy Tail Academy year X786-X787! Today, you guys are going to relive the world of high school and have fun! Woohoo!"
The MC enthusiastically showed a couple of photos from our high school times. I laughed whenever I thought about how silly we used to be. Then, they started to played games and things became much more amusing.
Everything became much more hectic once Jellal arrived. They suddenly wanted to play couple games and paired everyone up. I almost died from laughter when I saw that both Jet and Droy still compete over Levy-chan after all this time.
And the happy feelings now changed to a romantic one as the couple went dancing. Then everyone joined them together because they also wanted to have fun. I sat back at the bar and laughed at everyone. They were having such a great time.
I even saw Elfman dancing with a girl. Elfman is this big and bulky guy with a pretty fierce look on his face. He was dancing with a green-haired girl, who I apparently forgot. Loke was dancing with all of his fan girls at once, Erza was dancing with Jellal, and so on.
I smiled at them, wishing that time could be repeated. I scanned the room for anyone that I know and I stopped. My gaze fell on a man wearing a black tuxedo with black tie. He had a black spiky hair, a dark blue eyes and a muscular body. It was Gray.
He was way taller than I last remembered. And the look on his face suggested that age had been very nice to him. There is line of adulthood on his face, but it only makes him look tougher over the time. He looks sturdier, but his smile is still the same. He is Gray.
And Gray was walking towards me. One step, two step, and I was still staring at his handsome face, dumbfounded. Until he smiled at me and said, "Yo Lucy!" That I woke up from my daydream.
"Gr… Gray!" I stammered. He smiled at me and said, "Wow, you haven't change at all." My face blushed when I realized that he was complimenting me, and I shyly said my thanks.
We talked about our life now, what had happened and everything. It seems so easy to talked to Gray. His laid-back personality was the one that kept me attracted to him.
Eventually, we came to those topic of "how were we in high school?". Gray started first, "I think you were pretty smart."
I scoffed, "Just that? Well that was easy." Gray laughed and continued, "I'm not done okay. I think… that you were pretty cute."
My face automatically blushed at his honesty. I turned my face to the left and said, "Well… Well I think you were… Nice?" Gray burst out of laughter after hearing my answer. "Nice? I do way better than that!" He laughed.
I laughed half-heartedly at my own stupidity. However, Gray stopped laughing and stared me with his deep dark blue eyes. I gulped, trying to keep the rhythm of my heartbeat in control.
"You know what Lucy, do you remember the time when I asked whether you and Natsu was dating?" asked him. Inside I shouted: DO YOU THINK I WOULD FORGET? But then I answered, "Umm, yeah I guess a bit. What about it?"
Gray fixed his seating position so that he faced me. He continued, "When I asked about it… I was actually confirming something. Because if you are not dating with Natsu, I wanted to ask you out."
Huh? Asking me out?
"So, where is Natsu? Haven't seen him. Are you guys still dating?" Asked Gray nonchalantly. I gathered every pieces of my strength to answer, "No, haven't seen him too. We are not dating." And never was!
Gray had this sad expression on his face, concerned with my failed (never-ever-ever-happened) relationship. "I'm sorry," he said. I shook my hands in front of him, consolidating him. Wait, why am I consolidating him? It's not like Natsu and I was ever dating!
But then, look at your surrounding Lucy. Gray didn't look like he was dating. And he did mention the fact that he used to like you. Maybe you can use this to your advantage…
I brushed my hair, trying to boast my honey blonde hair, and sat in a pretty revealing way. I said, "Well, what do you think would happen if we were dating huh?"
Gray just shrugged, "Don't know. Anyway, I want to introduce you to someone."
He just shrugged. He just shrugged.
Gray took out his cellphone and showed me a picture of a beautiful girl. The girl has a blue hair, dark blue eyes, and a pretty bosomy figure. It was a candid shot; the girl didn't seem to know that someone was photographing her.
My heart filled with rage and jealously when Gray blushed at the picture. He smiled at his own cellphone with such adoration. Even though my heart ached from sadness I still asked him, "Who is that?"
He grinned at me and said, "Juvia. My friend." "Or at least I hope we were more than that," he added.
All of the fantasy of Gray and me reuniting back after the long waited eight years vanished to thin air. It was sooooo obvious that Gray liked that girl. But wasn't I obvious too? That I like Gray?
He looked at me again, "What do you think Lucy? She's beautiful, right?" Ugh, I hate this. But I forced myself to smiled and said, "Yes, yes she is. You are good at picking girls Gray," I laughed dryly.
Gray scratched his head, clearly taken to cloud nine by my compliment. And as much as it hurts to ask this, I have to ask him. I took a deep breath and said, "So, is she your girlfriend?"
Gray's eyes shined a glimpse of sadness, "No. We were still friends." My heart jumped in excitement when I listened to his answer. At least he's not taken.
Suddenly, his phone rang. Gray's face lit up in excitement when he read the caller ID. Must be that Juvia girl. "Sorry Lucy, but I will be right back," he said hurriedly.
And that was a lie. He came back after a long 10/15 minutes and apologized necause he needed to leave early. Must be that Juvia girl telling him to leave. I could already sense danger coming out from this Juvia girl.
I laid my head on the table and sighed. If Natsu didn't say anything back then, will I get my happy ending with Gray? I sighed and thought of Natsu. My heart was filled with anger of what he had done, that wretched boy.
Club music was heard throughout the room. I was down in pouring rain of sadness when everyone was having a good time. Tragic.
"Lucy?"
Huh, who's that? I turned around to found a man with spiky pink hair grinning at me. "Lucy!" he shouted.
Natsu. The anger that was boiled inside my heart exploded when I saw him. I growled at him, "NATSU!"
Natsu was taken aback by my reply and he stepped backwards. I grabbed his collar and yelled at him. Looks like a couple of person was staring at us so I calmed down. I told him all that had happened, Gray, eight years ago, his confession. After I was done, I released Natsu and fell on my seat. I wanted to cry.
Natsu looked as guilty as Natsu would ever be. He awkwardly scratched his cheek while I was sitting there remembering the last word that Gray said to me.
"Sorry Lucy, but I have to go! Bye!"
Yeah, he has to go. "They are not dating yet, right?" Said someone.
I looked up and I found Natsu grinning back at me. I stared at him with such intensity that Natsu lifted his two hands. "Ah Lucy please don't growl at me like that… You look scary."
I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. Being mad at Natsu wouldn't change anything. Natsu exhaled and continued, "I'm sorry Lucy. I was just gambling back then. I knew that Gray liked you and I wanted to test him. But it actually backfired. Sorry."
I glanced at Natsu's guilty look and sighed. No matter what happen, I couldn't be mad at Natsu. I smiled at him and I said, "It's alright. I guess I just missed my chance."
Natsu grinned again, that toothy grin, and said, "That's wrong! Gray and that girl are not dating yet, right?"
I stared at him in wonders, wondering what's his point. His eyes shine with thrill when he said, "Then that would mean that there is time. I am going to be responsible and will help you get Gray back!"
I gaped at him in bewilderment. Natsu hit his right fist to his left palm, "Alright! Let's get him back, Lucy!"
I stared open-mouthed at Natsu, praying that whatever he's planning, it won't be anything bad.
O.O
Hey guys!
So, back again with me Peacefulliar! Thank you for those who read If There Are Two of Them and are reading this as well. And thank you for those who just read this story! I hope you guys enjoy it.
For me, this is a very long introductory chapter, as I have to set the background for the story now. But, I will tell you now; I didn't really like writing long chapters. For me, 1000+ words is the ideal number. Nevertheless, I broke that rule for now, since this is an exception.
Anyway, please tell me what you guys think. Should I write longer chapter (3000 words) or stick with writing around 1000 words?
And please pray that I will have time to update this story. I'm having my finals next week so I might be busy.
So, I hope you guys like this! Tell me what you guys think by reviewing this chapter.
Cheers,
Peacefulliar