Chapter 33

The time was now, the ice mage had gotten through the main gauntlet of people he cared too much to hurt but did it anyways. He was already at the end of the emotionally heavy filled road with a single person left to speak to and although nothing would really change from their past, it gave Gray a sense that his decision would be easier to handle. He couldn't see the error of his method before he spoke to Cana, but he knew he had to toughen up and apologize to two people now once they made it back home. Though he knew life back the guild would be much more awkward for some time to come before everyone puts this all behind him, no doubt some more than others.

As he walked through the village he noticed his fellow guildmates who were trying their best to get over the ordeal of the previous night, some still trying their best not to say anything of what they believed they remembered. Mira and Laxus were talking with each other quite seriously, Gray knowing that the stories for both S-class mages coincide with the other and would surely give the other person a different point of view to this potion mess. Evergreen was still looking rather mad with Elfman and the poor muscled man was still confused of what he had done to gain her ire if the ice mage had to guess. Luckily the others, along with Lyon and Toby, struck up conversations about some sort of topic and were enjoying a bit of lunch for themselves as the demons were still one of the kindest hosts Gray has met.

It was when he met eyes with Gajeel did he direct him in the direction of the group of three with vibrant hair colors, consisting of blue, pink and blonde. The ice mage nodded his thanks towards the iron dragon slayer, who Gray had no doubt was well aware of what he was doing; even if only by a fraction of the truth that actually was happening. Before he was in range of the group, it was Natsu that turned his attention towards the approaching mage and took on a more pensive stance of whether or not he should regard him first. Luckily the decision was made for him as Levy had called out to him to join them, but what he didn't know was she had a plan already set in motion.

"Seems you guys are enjoying the afternoon." Gray said once he was well within earshot, but noticed the nervous looks of not only Lucy, but Natsu as well.

"Yeah well we're trying to make the most of showing up randomly on Galuna, so we're making it a small vacation trip." Levy said in response as Gray took a seat next to her, facing a non-attentive Lucy who was looking at almost anything her peripheral vision would catch that was not in the direct line of sight towards Gray.

"I don't like relaxing this much, I rather be back at the guild getting a job or something." Natsu decided to add something to the conversation and was slightly glad Gray was going to reply to him directly.

"No need to worry about that Flame Brain, I'm sure we'll be getting back to the guild pretty soon. All we need to do is get a boat trip back to the mainland and a train ride to Magnolia." Gray emphasized on the words of vehicles enough that Natsu was feeling queasy at the mention of them.

The ice mage was satisfied with the end result and it told him that Natsu had no lingering effects within him, immediately chalking up his previous look with only his form of confusion. The dragon slayer on the other hand had actually been confused as to why he wanted Gray to reply to him if he was only going to annoy him in turn. On to Levy's view of all this, she knew that the small talk wasn't going to last forever and she needed to get the ball rolling now that Gray had finally arrived, so she sent her silent message towards the iron dragon slayer that had been looking over at her table ever since Gray had began walking to them.

It took her a few tries to make her message clear as Gajeel simply looked at her strangely from what she was signaling to him, until he realized that she was talking about Natsu. He had some ideas of how to draw his fellow dragon slayer, but they mainly involved fists and knew it wasn't the best idea to start any fight in the village. He couldn't think up of anything useful until a demon villager had brought some more food to a nearby table that his guild mates were sitting at and finally came up with an idea.

"Oi Salamander! Bet you can't eat as much of this demon cooking as I can!" He called out with a mixture of a challenging and cocky tone and wasn't surprised by the results as the pink haired slayer stood up to his challenge.

"You bet I can! Bring it on Metal Face!" Natsu immediately got out of his seat as he marched pridefully towards Gajeel's table, knowing that no one could surpass him in an eating contest especially with his track record of eating twenty-seven full course meals made by Mira.

"I got to make sure those two don't knock each other into food comas, someone's gotta be there who isn't cheering for them to get another bowl." Levy said as she stood up abruptly already turning to leave, but stopped as Lucy called out to her.

"I'll come with you, you might get your hands full with Gajeel so I'll deal with Natsu for you." Lucy suggested secretly pleading to the blunette not to leave her alone with the ice mage, but her hopes came crashing down when the petite girl looked at her sternly.

"I can handle myself pretty well Lucy, stay and keep Gray company while I'm gone. I'm sure you've got plenty to talk about." Levy called back as she made her way towards the circle that was beginning to form around the dragon slayers who were preparing their gullets for the eating match of the year.

Lucy was dumbfounded that Levy would leave her to the shirtless wolf sitting across from her without a means to defend herself. Plenty has happened over the course of two weeks and her blue haired best friend has already told her enough of what's been going on that her memory seemed to have forgotten. She was beyond embarassed with herself to say the least and was in no way ready to speak to Gray about all this, but even Loke had come from the Spirit World to egg her own into a talk with the ice mage. Her own nervousness was soon drowned out as the baritone voice belonging to the aforementioned shirtless mage began to ask her a question.

"I'm I really that hard a person to talk to?" Gray asked as Lucy began to wave her hands sporadically to disway his thought of him being difficult to communicate with.

"No no no, it's not that at all. It's just that I was left alone with you all of a sudden and I was just blinded sided by it is all." The blonde replied, but she nervously played with a pigtail as he looked confused at her words.

"So it's just me in general that bothers you then?" A follow up question that got an immediately response, but Gray couldn't get an answer from Lucy as he gave a short chuckle before she said anything.

"Geez Gray, stop teasing me already! You know I don't do well under pressure." Lucy whined as the ice mage subdued his almost outburst of laughter and regained his composure with a slight cough.

"As much as this was a nice distraction, there's something I want to talk to you about." Gray said as he stood up from the table, waiting for her to follow him as she merely looked at him with doe eyes. "Well come on, this conversation is for our ears only so we need to get some privacy."

"Oh right, I'm coming." The blonde replied as she quickly followed after the ice mage, noticing that he was picking his way through a number of places where the crowd's cheers seemed to have grown stronger.


In the Celestial Spirit World, Loke was already feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles as this was the big moment he was waiting for. A number of his fellow spirits were already up in arms against him and what he allowed to happen to Lucy last night, but was lucky to have the support of Aries, Capricorn, Taurus and surprisingly Scorpio too for his Plan B. Needless to say that there was a large amount of friction within Lucy's spirits of how she was treated and the strawberry blonde had decided to lock himself inside the Grand Hall. All the tension and build up was for this moment as he watched the events unfold on Earth Land.

This was where Gray would finally admit that he loved Lucy and she would respond with her being in love with him too, now giving her the chance at her own happy ending. All of his hard work, the time constraints he had to deal with and the rebellion his fellow spirits had against him for what he allowed to do was for this moment in which two people he's cared about come together as one.

He could already see it happening right before him; the two will be inseparable until the day Gray pops big the question, soon followed with his beautiful master wearing an Aries exclusive wedding dress and he as Gray's best man. Aquarius will outright congratulate Lucy, saying that she is indeed happy for her and somewhere down the line a new celestial spirit mage is going to inherit their keys from their mother. Loke was drawn out from his fantasy as Gray began speaking and decided to get himself comfortable for the upcoming good news, knowing that he'll jump up in sheer joy that in the end everything had finally turned out good.

"I'm sure that Levy's told you about what's happened with Juvia and the rest of you, right?" Gray had asked and Lucy nodded her head, which Loke couldn't really fault her for as this was her first conversation with the ice mage ever since she was back in her right state of mind. "Good, is there anything else she told you?"

"To be honest, there was plenty of embarrassing things that I have apparently done and am in no way ready to say that I'm proud of them." The blonde replied as she looked sheepishly down to her boots, although Loke was pleading her to keep eye contact even if she couldn't hear him.

"Well, this whole potion business has done some incredibly embarrassing things to a few others, so I wouldn't say you're alone in that regard." Gray replied reassuringly, trying to make Lucy comfortable with the fact that others weren't feeling alright with what has happened either.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one." She said cheerily although the strawberry blonde spirit knew that his master was feeling something at that moment, apprehension maybe? "Umm, I don't know how to say this right Gray, but I'm sure there's more about this conversation that you're not letting on."

"Perceptive as always Lucy and you're right, I haven't really gotten to the main point of why I wanted to talk to you in private." The ice mage put his hands in his pockets and Loke was getting antsy with the way the ice mage was simply dangling what he wanted to hear like a carrot on a stick in front of a hungry rabbit. "The real question though is if you want to really know what I want to say?"

"Some discoveries aren't made if you don't take a leap of faith from time to time, so yes I do want to hear what you have to say." Lucy bravely replied as a content smile grew on Gray's face and Loke was gripping the edges of the seat he pulled up to the screen of how close the ice mage was finally going to confess.

"And there's the response from the daring Lucy Heartfilia that I wanted to hear." Gray replied as he leaned against the wall of a hut, the blonde beauty herself seemingly growing nervous at how casual the ice mage was becoming after her words. "You remember that night on my balcony under the stars right?"

"Yes I do, even the part when you...confessed to me." Lucy said as her cheeks began to flare with pink and Loke was lowly giggling like a schoolgirl at how the blonde's reaction was a surefire sign that she knew what was going to happen next. "And the things that you needed to take care of too."

"Yep, I did say that I need to take care of a few things and I really have. Although the thing that always boggles my mind was that after all that I got through, I wondered what you ever saw in me." Loke knew that Gray always questioned the things that didn't make sense to him and the lion spirit couldn't lie that he was aware that the ice mage was still unsure of Lucy's interest in him.

"There's plenty that I saw in you, given that it happened gradually because my attention was...elsewhere." The busty blonde replied and Loke knew that this was her chance to really tell Gray what she really sees in him, that she too can see the real Gray underneath his cold exterior.

"Yeah I know what you mean, but if you wouldn't mind could you tell me what those things are?" The ice mage asked and this was a test that Loke developed himself when out on the prowl with Gray, deciding what girl was truly into either of them or which will become the spirit's conquest.

"Well, you've always shown a sense of trust with me even when I was a mere rookie, like I was someone you've known your whole life. No matter what danger was in front of us or if I was in trouble, you were always there even if Natsu was always the forefront of attention. You may think you're simply in the background when Erza and Natsu are around, but I know that you are what keep us together." She replied and Loke had to admit she was doing fine so far, but if she said anything generic then it would begin creating red flags. "And even though the first thing you said to me when we met was to give you my panties, I had a feeling that you and I were going to be good friends albeit it was a pretty small voice back then."

"Really, I thought I put you off with this weird habit of mine and all the fighting I do with Natsu." Gray replied as Lucy dismissed his words with a a few waves of her hand as she was signifying that it wasn't the case.

"Sure it was weird at first, but it was what makes who you are since it was something you picked up from your master. If it wasn't for that reason, you would've trained yourself not to strip, Lyon actually told us that's what he does." Her explanation actually surprised Gray from what Loke could tell and it was pretty interesting to see his blonde master put a reason behind his stripping to this day.

"And sure it drives me a bit nuts when you two fight, but like I said before it's what helps keep us together. Without you around who knows what would happen; Natsu would be too antsy and filled with energy to keep up with, Erza would try some of the more drastic measures to make sure a job is done or a mission must be completed no matter what and I'd lose my mind having to deal with it all alone." Lucy added as it was because of Gray that Erza didn't do the irrational thing of cutting off her arm when she was poisoned by the snake Cobra owned when they were fighting the Oracion Seis.

"I guess I do play some role in our team dynamic, but I wonder what role I truly play to you aside from a buffer between your sanity and the unruled behavior of Natsu and a bit of Erza." Those had been good answers on Lucy's behalf, but the lion spirit knew that they still were a little far off from the main question Gray had asked her.

"I've met a number of people that have their uniqueness, but not one of them are like you Gray. You make yourself out to be a simple ice mage with a basic concept of living like Natsu, but you are way more complex than that and the way I'm still learning about you proves it." Lucy answered him as the ice mage's very own personality had yet to be flushed out in her eyes compared to the others in the guild and Loke knew about this very well. "And I want to be one of the very few people who knows the real Gray Fullbuster, not the one you let people see everyday."

"Makes me happy to know that Luce, but I guess I didn't spend so much time with you after I confessed to you though." Gray replied, Loke knowing that the ice mage was so busy with everything else that was going on around him to realize that he left Lucy out of the whole equation. "Maybe I wasn't cut out to be this person you see if I can't even make time for you."

"That's okay Gray, even I had to do plenty of things so it's even if you ask me." How sweet his master was being to Gray in Loke's eyes as she even admits that he was not the only one at fault here. "But I want to know what you saw in me, I mean I've said a lot of things before about us and well Juvia was much more open and honest about you then I was."

"The difference there was that I didn't like Juvia the way I did to you, sure it was a small attraction at first but it slowly turned into something more than that." Gray replied and this time Loke was cheering on for Gray to elaborate, wanting to see his master blush furiously at his words. "You've accomplished a lot more than most of the people of the guild Luce, ever since you joined things have been different for me."

"I think that's a given Gray, I mean there are a few things that have happened when I joined. Phantom Lord being one of those and I don't think that was a good one." She replied, but Loke had to very strongly disagree with her as she has done plenty good for others with him being one of them.

"You can't take the blame for that one, that guild was looking for an excuse to fight us and a request to take you back by any means necessary was all the incentive they needed. But aside from that, you've actually made me feel happier in the guild." Gray had countered her previous claim smoothly which the spirit was proud of as this was the quick recovery he taught him how to do followed up with a bit of flattering which in this case was making the ice mage happier.

"Are you sure about that? You looked happy the day I joined and I guessed that's how you were most of the time." Loke couldn't blame her for that since it was a fair assumption, but the ice mage was like a master at hiding his feelings from others.

"You said so yourself that you wanted to know the real Gray Fullbuster and not the one I want people to see, which after a while you knew that I was putting up an act." It was these things that the Zodiac leader knew only through careful observation of his guildmates which took him months, but took his master a few weeks. "Luce, you've got to pride yourself with the knowledge that before a few days ago you and six others were the only ones who knew my past."

"I don't think I can pride myself for knowing what happened to you Gray, it still makes me feel terrible for what you loss before you made it to Fairy Tail." In all honesty, Loke knew bits and pieces of his past which he filled in the gaps with inferencing about his behaviour and what information he could gather. "I could never think of myself being able to sympathize for your loss; I was like a princess back home and left it all behind but you were just a regular boy who couldn't control what was going to happen on that fateful night."

"And even then you tried your best to comfort me about it, so I think you still tried your best to be someone I could lean on even though I had too much pride to do so." Gray said with a thankful smile and Lucy's rosy cheeks turned a shade darker in response. "But you want to know what I see in you so I'll do just that." Gray added as Loke realized that Gray drove the conversation away, just like Lucy did, from the main question.

"R-Right, I did ask for that and I guess everything before..."

"Was barely even a snippet of what I want to say." Gray continued where Lucy left off and the blonde kept quiet from there. "There's plenty of generic bullshit I could say that even you've heard dozens of times, but remember that what I tell you is purely Fullbuster truth."

Lucy nodded her head in response and Loke was becoming giddy at the prospect that Gray was going to lay it thick on this. The ice mage was, in Loke's eyes, infamous for flirting when they were on the prowl and knew that he had to speak the truth as he gave his name's seal of authenticity on this. The spirit was actually hoping to see his old wing-man back in action since he dropped out ot the scene with him after some incident that happened a year prior of Lucy's joining.

"Let's see, you have the biggest patience of anyone I've met who has also met Natsu, but that doesn't stop the pure heart you have that tries to do what is best for her friends. Luce, you've got the aspirations of someone who has the makings of an author and yet the spirit of a brave mage ready to stand against a dark guild." Much of Gray's words were what Loke could tell her himself, but was still holding out to see if the ice mage still has some more in him. "No matter what obstacle that's been placed in front of you, your independence makes you stand proud of who you are and though it's sometimes naive of you, you follow that big heart of yours with the people you love well guarded in it."

"Is that all...?" Lucy asked as she was becoming bashful of the words Gray was saying, though what Loke didn't understand was that it was Gray who was truthfully saying these things that were making her feel this way.

"No it isn't." Gray replied as he stepped closer to Lucy as he held her chin up with his thumb and index finger to look up at him. "Out of all the people who have ever met me, it was you who had managed to melt the ice over my heart again."

Lucy face flushed completely red now as Loke could've sworn he saw steam escape the top of her head from the screen and began laughing like a mad man at how Gray literally swept her off her feet just then. This was it, Gray had finally set the mood and all he had to do was say the words and ask her to be his. Unbeknownst to him, Virgo had managed to find her way inside the Grand Hall to find out what Loke was doing as the others were occupied with one another outside and was confused by her leader's behaviour. He had been acting like her Princess when she talked about the ice mage with Levy, except the strawberry blonde was watching them on the large lacrima screen. She too began to watch what was going on from behind a pillar, making sure he didn't know she was there and looked on curiously as the scene continued to play out.

"G-Geez, didn't I already tell you not to tease me!" Lucy backed up as fast as she could, the sound of her heart beating her ears rather loudly and tried her best to calm herself down, but Virgo knew that it was a tactical retreat. She couldn't survive any longer if she stayed there even for a few seconds more.

"Sorry about that Luce, I just want to lighten the mood a bit. It gets awkward when you tell a close friend all those things and try to make sure you don't cave in from sheer embarrassment." Gray admitted which was nice on his part from Virgo's perspective, but Loke merely blew a raspberry at his words calling him the derogatory name for a cat for not following through like the way he taught him. Virgo was not amused with Loke.

"Close friend, huh? Nothing more than that?" Lucy asked sounding a bit dejected and Loke kept his mouth shut for this, the pink maid dressed spirit noticing how he was on the edge of his seat now.

"To be honest, no there's something more I want you to be." Gray replied and Virgo began to hear Loke continuously chant "This is it! This is it!" over and over again as he rocked back and forth in his seat. "Luce I...I want you to be mine..."

"HE FUCKING SAID IT!" Loke cheered at the top of his lungs as he really did jump up from his seat in great satisfaction that it was all a success as he laughed joyfully that his friend finally committed to his master.

"Gray..." Lucy said and Virgo continued to watch the event unfold as Loke then turned to look at the screen as well, but the maid spirit looked slightly concerned judging by the way the ice mage's face looked.

"But I know I can't..." Gray finally said as he dropped his gaze from her face as Lucy was shocked by what he had said as well with her eyes opening up in surprise.

"What?!" Loke and Virgo had simultaneously said and the latter was glad her voice wasn't as raised as the strawberry blonde's, who began to glow with anger at the latest revelation.

"W-What do you mean Gray?" Lucy asked worriedly as she hadn't expected the ice mage to actually deny forming a relationship with each other by himself, which goes double for Loke and Virgo as well.

"You are special to me Lucy, you brought the warmth needed to melt my frozen heart, but this heart will only betray you." Gray replied as this now piqued the interest of the two spirits to see where he was going with this. "You deserve someone that will only love you, that will always have their heart set out for you, but my heart goes out to both Erza and Cana too."

"I guess even I couldn't compete against those two." Lucy ruefully said and Loke was already beginning to feel her sadness, already preparing himself to force open his gate into Earth Land.

"No you're wrong, you had an equal chance as them, but I'm afraid that my feelings for them will only interfere with the ones I have for you. You three are special and I couldn't even imagine living without either of you there with me, so until I can make sure that I can devote myself to only you, all I can say is that we'll still be apart for a while longer." The spirits could tell that the ice mage was being genuine about this, but Loke was more angered of the outcome and before Virgo knew it he was already storming his way towards the entrance of the Grand Hall.


Gray faced Lucy with as much determination as he could, doing his best not to let himself regret his decision and stand by it. The blonde celestial mage was an amazing person that he was more than glad to have met, but if his heart wasn't set to only think of her then it was like cheating in his opinion. Like he thought days before, how was he going to commit to a relationship with her if his heart would make him think of the off chance of what might have happened if he chose one of the other women instead.

"I know what I've decided to do, but your opinion matters to me too and I'll listen to what you have to say." Gray had taken Cana's advice and decided that he had to really listen for once, if only for her now that he messed up with Erza and failed with the card mage.

"I just...I just didn't really see this coming." Lucy replied as a part of her had actually believed that this would be the true ending Gray was seeking in being with her after all that he's been through. "To be honest I thought this was going to be a "happily ever after" moment between us."

"If I wasn't such an idiot with my feelings than it might've been." The ice mage had been surprised that she was taking this rather calmly, maybe he underestimated her for once. "I'm sorry that I've made you feel terrible, but if it'll make you feel better then you can go ahead and hit me. Can't say I haven't been expecting it all day."

Gray closed his eyes and was preparing himself for one of her deadly Lucy Kicks, but wasn't expecting the hard fist to his cheek that stung sharply as the whole fist followed through to knocking him into the ground. He held his cheek soothingly, caught off guard by how hard Lucy could punch although when he looked up at the blonde, he was met with angered glow of Loke as he stood over him. Now the spirit wasn't someone the ice mage had expected to hit him, but if this was what Lucy wanted then he wouldn't complain.

"You're damn right you should be sorry! Lucy's been dealing with enough as it was and all of it was just for you to let her down!?" Loke raged as he thought Gray was much smarter than this, that he should've realized that his blonde master was the girl for him. "I helped you fix everything, showed you that she cared for you and this is the thanks we all get!?"

"Would it be fair to her if I thought about another woman while I was with her!?" Gray retorted as he got up from up off the floor, now knowing that Loke did this himself and Lucy had no intention of summoning him.

"It wouldn't, but you'd at least try to make sure she was the only one for you!" Loke shout back as he charged Gray with a Regulus fist and the ice mage quickly dodged him, forcing the spirit into a grapple as they both weren't going to allow the other any form of dominance. "I even gave you my blessing to be with her!"

"I never needed it in the first place!" The ice mage and the spirit did their best to try to trip the other up, while also making sure that they stood planted into the ground without budging an inch. "You as her spirit would want someone faithful for her just like all of you are to her."

"Open Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" Lucy shouted summoning the black and white cow from the spirit realm as he stood next to her. "Taurus grab a hold of Loke and don't let him go."

"Sure thing Lucy." Taurus said although he was reluctant to go against his leader, but knew that Lucy was trying to defuse the situation before it really got out of hand.

"Let go of me Taurus, let me at this asshole!" Loke began squirming in the bull's grip, but his fellow spirit wasn't loosening his grip anytime soon and made it tighter the harder he fought to escape.

"Sorry Loke, but Lucy wanted me to do this." He replied as their blonde master stood in front of them both.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do Loke, but you're being a massive idiot!" Lucy shouted causing the strawberry blonde to freeze in astonishment, his previous escape attempts halted as he stared at her. "I'm a grown woman and I can make my own choices myself. I thank all of you for looking after me, but this is my decision of what happens next, not yours."

"But Lucy, I..." Loke didn't finish his sentence as she turned her back to him, the Zodiac leader understanding that it was all she was going to say to him.

"Gray, you and I don't have such a long history with each other, but if you really are serious about wanting to be with me then why don't we start by making some memories ourselves?" Lucy said as she tried to muster a smile, but the ice mage knew that she herself wasn't satisfied with this either. He knew that she was actually hurting a bit with simply waiting on him to really come around to see only her.

"If this is what you truly want then we'll do just that, but know that I don't want to tie you down. If you fall in love with someone else, then by all means find out if they are made for you and I won't stop you." Gray said and Lucy along with her spirits looked at him understandingly, knowing that he wanted her to find someone for herself if he failed. "I'll take it as I was just too slow and my chance of trying is over."

"Then hope no one else sweeps me off my feet." Lucy said with her usual pep, although it was slightly forced as the end result of all this wasn't what she or anyone else had expected for that matter. "Now I want you two to go back home, I don't think we'll be needing you guys for a while."

Both spirits nodded their heads and began to fade away in a gold shimmer, Loke still held in Taurus' grip as they finally disappeared. This left Lucy and Gray alone again, no real sign of trying to make some sort of comment coming from either of them until Natsu had appeared rushing behind a hut. Both mages glad that the pink haired slayer was running at them with a gleeful smile on his face to distract them from what had happened earlier.

"There you guys are! I beat Metal Face in the eating contest!" The pink haired slayer cheered happily as he drew closer to them, but now he realized that he didn't know why they both were alone together. "Why are you guys even here in the first place?"

"Nothing that concerns you Flame Breath, now let's head back to the others. I want to see how sick Gajeel looks now that he tried beating you when it came to food." Gray said as he was the first to make his way in the direction that Natsu had came from, but the slayer wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Hey Luce, what really happened here?" He asked innocently and the blonde tried her best not to feel dejected with what did occur between them.

"Just Gray showing me a new ice technique he developed, I think he's planning on fighting you with it." Lucy replied as she knew that he became easily distracted with the idea of fighting Gray, especially when the ice mage would make a new ice making technique.

"Well he's got another thing coming once we get back to the guild if he tries to even think about using it against me." Natsu said confidently as he knew that he would melt the ice mage's ice away before he even touched him with it. "You got to tell me what it looked like later okay?"

"Sure thing Natsu, I'll tell you when we get back to Fairy Tail." Lucy replied and Natsu grinned widely at her for her help, but the blonde felt a knot in her stomach at the thought of going back to the guild.

"I don't think things will be the same for a while now that this potion is gone for good." Lucy thought as she knew the awkwardness that would ensue whenever someone tried to talk to Gray or even the ones on the island for that matter. The blonde beauty only hoped that with time, their bonds would be repaired and think of this as an interesting memory to look back to sometime in the years to come.


A/N: I'd like to thank you for reading this chapter and hoped you enjoyed it, but looks like the next one is the finale. I'll also add in an epilogue, (maybe?), if there's more that I want to add in after the end. Enjoy the rest of your day and hoped to see you in the conclusion of Emotion Potion and an Ice Mage, bye!