It had been a long and tiring week for Lucy Heartfilia. Besides taking a total of five monster hunting jobs with Team Natsu (with hardly any pay leftover, she might add), she had done an interview with the Sorcerer's Weekly, submitted an entry for a Valentine's story contest, completed an additional two chapters of her novel… all the while searching for potion ingredients, meeting with Levy, and other orthodox preparations for Valentine's.

It was so exhausting, it had even reached a point where she didn't think today would come, but finally… finally it was here. The blonde-haired beauty stood at the doors of the guild, taking in the party which was already in full swing.

Figures.

She had yet to meet a Fairy Tail mage who would be willingly late for anything that involved booze. Even if it was a Valentine's Day party.

As per the theme, the guild hall was a vision of pink and white. Long lengths of soft pink and silvery white fabric hung across the room from the centre of the ceiling. Their ends met in the corners of the hall, making the room look like the indoors of a giant tent.

Opaque, cloudy spheres (they reminded her of giant pearls) fixed the fabric in place on the walls and ceilings. They emitted a soft glow that made its surroundings just bright enough to see, but dim enough to set the mood.

There were also hearts. Hearts, everywhere. From the chairs to the dessert, to the patterned tablecloths and flower arrangements. Lucy suspected that if she went to the toilet, she might even find heart-patterned toilet paper.

However, all of those things still paled in comparison to the guild's latest centrepiece – a chocolate fountain easily 3 heads taller than herself. It was placed exactly where the Christmas tree was two months ago, complete with a statue of cupid (that looked disturbingly like Master) acting as its topper.

Lucy got so distracted by it that she didn't even notice Levy calling her, until her friend's petite hand was waving in her face.

She quickly took in the blunette's cute dress; a short, ruby red number that accentuated her slender hips and pert behind. "Levy-chan! You look great!" she exclaimed.

Levy puffed her cheeks playfully. "Well, it's about time you replied me. You look great too." She smiled. "That white dress really matches the decorations."

Lucy huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a compliment!" she laughed. "You look like an angel… although I shouldn't be the one paying you any worship, if you get what I mean." She winked, turning to look across the room where a certain pink-haired dragon slayer stood.

The blonde coughed embarrassedly. "What about Gajeel?"

"Well, actually…" The blunette turned in the other direction and pointed him out.

He looked positively malicious, even more so than usual. At first, Lucy surmised that it was the sappy decorations that clashed with his look, but soon realised that his anger was directed elsewhere. She followed his glare to the other side of the room where the other two members of Shadow Gear sat. Oh.

"Jet and Droy have been trying to confess to me non-stop today." she explained.

"I'm more amazed that they're still trying." Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Levy exhaled loudly and shrugged. "They wouldn't be part of Team Shadow Gear if they didn't have at least that amount of courage." she said. "Not that anything would stop Gajeel." she remarked wryly.

"More importantly, is everything ready on your end yet?" she asked, changing the topic.

After preparing the potion together at Fairy Hills, they had decided it would be best if Lucy kept it. There were only so many times they could hide the evidence whenever one of its residents decided to barge in uninvited. At least in Lucy's apartment, the only 'uninvited lodger' was someone whom was already in on the plan.

Lucy nodded. "I've got it here." She patted her purse.

"Good. Now, onto phase two. I already—" Levy began, but the duo's discussion was suddenly interrupted by a commotion happening across the hall.

"GRAY-SAMA! JUVIA HAS A PRESENT FOR YOU!"

"I thought I had already accepted your gift… gifts, Juvia?" Gray answered hesitantly, backing away.

"No, Gray-sama! This gift is different from the Juvia body pillows and the Juvia towels and the Juvia plush toys and the Juvia cosplay book. This one is the true gift of love from Juvia to Gray-sama, all Juvia needs is for Gray-sama to hold still while she sprays this love perfume—"

Levy turned to look at Lucy. "That's funny. Juvia just said she had a—" she cut herself short, seeing the panicked expression on the celestial mage's face. Her hand was rummaging in her purse, but it didn't bring up anything.

"It's not here!" she squeaked.

The two stared at each other, their eyes widening in realisation. "Our potion!" they exclaimed in unison. Without another word, they rushed off into the direction of Gray's loud protests, elbowing and nudging people as they hurriedly weaved through the crowd.

Levy yelled. "Juvia, let go of that!"

"Love Rivals!" Juvia suddenly turned to stare at them with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "Gray-sama is Juvia's love, not yours!"

"For the last time, we're not Love Rivals!" Lucy explained exasperatedly. "You don't have to use that on Gray!"

"No! Juvia will find out once and for all who dwells in Gray-sama's heart!"

"You don't understand!" Levy protested, reaching out to grab the perfume from her, only to be barricaded by a wall of water.

The two could only watch in horror as a puff of smoke was released in front of Gray's face, blossoming into a heart shape before it disappeared. As the smoke subsided, the ice mage shook his head and blinked a few times in confusion.

"I guess it smells nice?" he commented, frowning. "Um, if you don't need me now I'll just be going…" He turned around and left.

The colour quickly drained out of Juvia's face.

"But, but, but…" She stammered, falling to her knees. "Does that mean Gray-sama's one true love is not Juvia?!" she wailed loudly, causing everyone in the vicinity to wince and back away in horror as she began dissolving into a puddle of water.

The wall of water promptly collapsed and Levy took the opportunity to repossess their vial of perfume.

Meanwhile, Lucy tried to shout over Juvia's loud crying. "Well, we did try to warn you, Juvia!" she yelled. "If you would have just stopped and listened, you'd know the perfume only works on girls!"

"And thank goodness it didn't have any weird side effects on a guy." Levy added, relieved.

At that, Juvia's cries became more subdued. After resuming human form once more, she wiped a last tear from her eye. "So, it's not that Gray-sama doesn't love Juvia?" she whimpered.

"I think he likes you enough. He didn't reject your gifts, did he?" Lucy smiled, offering her hand to her.

As if she were suddenly struck with inspiration, Juvia bounced up from her weeping position and clasped her hand.

"Thank you, Lucy-san! Now Juvia realises, the only way she can prove Gray-sama's love is…... this!" she exclaimed, promptly snatching the perfume out of Levy's hands.

Before the mages could react, Juvia turned the nozzle towards herself and pressed, releasing another heart-shaped cloud of smoke into her own face.

It was as if it happened in slow motion. Lucy and Levy couldn't do anything except watch with bated breath as the perfume began to take its effect on the water mage. It only took a matter of seconds before her eyes began to visibly dilate. A sign that they've seen a person they're attracted to? Lucy speculated.

Suddenly, Juvia's body began to tremble dangerously. The celestial mage immediately gripped her best friend's arm, a look of worry on her face. "Levy-chan… is this supposed to happen?"

"I'm not sure— oof!" Levy quickly dived for the vial of perfume as it slipped out of Juvia's hands.

The water mage, on the other hand, had begun running towards the guild doors. Presumably, where a certain Fullbuster was lurking. As Lucy helped her friend off the ground, they heard a strangled yell that was almost immediately cut off, followed by a few cat calls.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

"...at least now we know it actually works." Levy remarked wryly.

As Lucy helped Levy up from the ground, her face was noticeably pale. "I didn't think its effect would be that… powerful." she commented hesitantly.

"Don't tell me you're backing out at the final stage." The script mage raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "No, I said I would go through with this. It's just that for Mira-"

"Did somebody call my name?" a voice interrupted.

Horrified expressions appeared on the two girls' faces before they turned to look. Behind them, dressed in a pitch black gown with a large slit running up its side, was Mirajane Strauss. She was showing off her signature smile, but the two bookworms could sense the underlying malice. They gulped nervously.

"That's an interesting perfume you have there, Lucy, Levy." she noted.

"F-funny you should say that, Mira!" Lucy said, pinching herself for stuttering.

"May I take a look?"

The two accomplices made eye contact.

"Of course! In fact, we were just looking for you so you could try it!" Levy piped up, her voice a bit higher pitched than usual.

Lucy nodded fervently. "It really reminded us of you when we bought it." she added.

Mira eyed them silently for a moment. "Well," she began, placing her index finger on her cheek. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." she mused. She put her hands out in front of her to take the perfume, causing Levy to instinctively move back.

"Uhh, I can help you put it on. No problem, Mira." she said cautiously.

The takeover mage shook her head and stepped forward, closing her hands around the blunette's smaller hands and the vial. "Don't worry, I'm capable of doing it myself." she reassured with a smile.

"No, really." Levy gritted her teeth. "I insist."

"I'm fine."

"Please, allow me."

The vial shifted back and forth dangerously between each banter. While Lucy was worried that it would eventually slip from their grasp and break, she couldn't help but admire how ominous they sounded despite only uttering pleasantries this entire time.

And then, she heard a crack. Her eyes widened in panic. "Stop! You're going to break—" she began.

But as the laws governing irony would have it, the bottle did slip from their hold. The glass shattered against the stone floor and smoke billowed out of the container, instead of the liquid they had expected.

They inhaled the smoke before they could even digest what was happening.

Lucy immediately felt a buzz of energy run through her entire body. She felt like her senses were on fire, but at the same time, her awareness of her surroundings were dulling. Her mind was filled with Natsu, and only Natsu. His grin, his laugh, his body, his heat. He was somewhere in this hall, and that's all she was focused on. She wanted him.

Before she knew it, she was running.

"Natsu!" Lucy called out, approaching the dragon slayer at lightning speed.

For some reason, right then he looked really... hot. Since when did his muscles ever look this defined? He was wearing a shirt, but she could draw the outline of his body with her eyes. She wanted to explore it. His abdomen, his toned back, she wanted to run her fingers through his salmon-coloured hair, feel the warmth of his skin against her own...

Natsu turned around, finally noticing her. "Is it my turn for the revenge thing— mmph!"

Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist as she captured his lips hungrily. His lips felt hotter than usual, like it was melting into hers... or was it because she was feeling hotter than usual?

"Mmph—Lucy—What is—" Natsu gasped, trying to push her away.

"You know what day it is today, right?" she said huskily, before proceeding to nip at his ear. She briefly registered a few catcalls and whistles. But strangely enough, she didn't care. The moans coming from her lover were enough to push her further. As long as he wanted it, she would oblige.

Eventually, he pulled away, breathing heavily. "Let's get out of here, Lucy." he demanded.

Lucy nodded, throwing her arms around his neck and giving into his strong grip. That was when she snapped out of it.

She gasped. "Put me down, Natsu!" she exclaimed.

Already halfway out the doors, he stopped and gave her a blank stare. "But I thought you wanted—" he began.

"I don't! No, I mean, I do!" Lucy hastily corrected herself after seeing Natsu's disappointed face. "I was… it's Mira!"

"You are... Mira?" Natsu let her down immediately. His face contorted in horror.

"No no, Mira and Levy broke the perfume that was meant for her, and we all inhaled it…" she explained hurriedly. Natsu breathed a sigh of relief while Lucy began to scan the guild in panic. "Oh Mavis, what are going to do now?" she muttered.

As she had expected, they weren't the only ones affected by the potion. The whole guild was!

She quickly spotted Levy tangled up with Gajeel in a corner of the guild, but there was also Juvia attacking Gray on a table, Bisca and Alzack locking lips while covering Asuka's eyes, Cana making out with a bottle of liquor, Max and his... Lucy looked away, wincing. What she would give to erase that view from her mind.

Rubbing her temples, she tried to calm herself down. First things first, she thought, I have to 'wake' Levy up.

She grabbed Natsu by the shoulders. "I'm only going to encourage this once, but could you go and start a fight with Gajeel?"

Natsu, who had been sulking due to Lucy's sudden lack of arousal immediately cheered up. "You mean it?" He exclaimed happily.

Before she could even reply, he had begun bounding towards the iron dragon slayer, his fists lighting up with fire. All that Lucy could do was shout after him: "Don't hurt Levy!"

Okay, now that that was taken care of, time to search for Mira. Turns out, it wasn't too hard. The white-haired barmaid was standing in her usual spot behind the bar, looking more than a little pleased at herself.

Lucy did a double take. Why was she alone? Didn't their perfume work on her?

Noticing the celestial mage, Mirajane beamed at her. "Your perfume is wonderful, Lucy! Who knew that it would put everyone in such a loving mood?" she gushed.

"Mira, why didn't it work on you?" she questioned, her hands on her hips.

"Maybe the person she loves just isn't here." Levy noted, coming up from behind her. Her hair was in a mess and she seemed slightly short of breath, but otherwise, fine.

Lucy frowned. "But the only people that are not here are—"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE, YOU BRATS?!" Master's voice boomed from the guild's entrance, successfully 'awakening' the remaining couples that had been affected by the love perfume and causing the guild to erupt in a series of confused chatter.

Distracted by the sudden noise, Lucy and Levy didn't even notice Mira had disappeared until they saw the back of her white head of hair zipping through the crowd.

They gasped at the same time, having come to the same conclusion.

"But that means—"

"No, it couldn't be—"

Disgusted expressions were plastered on their faces as they watched the barmaid get closer and closer to where Makarov was standing. After awhile, Lucy closed her eyes. "Ugh, Levy, I don't think I can watch this."

There was a long silence.

Suddenly, the guild erupted into gasps and surprised noises. Levy screamed, yanking onto Lucy's arm. "You have to look! Lu-chan, open your eyes!"

"I swear, Levy-chan, I've already been traumatised today. This better not be...… Oh. My. God." Lucy gaped.

Turns out, Master hadn't been alone after all.

The person he was with was currently pinned to the ground, quite helpless as Mirajane grinded into him provocatively. The entire guild watched in awed silence as she leaned down to suck on his neck, fingers exploring his broad body as she worked.

Much to everyone's horror, her victim eventually let out a lusty groan which turned into a growl as he grabbed onto Mira's shoulders and began to kiss her back passionately. "L-laxus…" she moaned loudly, causing everyone to wince.

Lucy couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed for them or completely disgusted.

Next to her, Levy seemed to have enough wits about her to point a finger into the air and murmur: "Solid Script: Camera." When one appeared out of thin air, she dazedly took a picture. And good thing she did, because immediately after that, Mira suddenly pushed herself off him, gasping.

"What's wrong, baby?" Laxus purred, causing goosebumps to crawl up everyone's skins. They did not need to hear that… or see any of that, actually.

Meanwhile, Mirajane's face went completely crimson as she digested her surroundings. Her eyes flitted from his smirking face, to her fallen dress strap, to the archway of the guild's entrance; her face turned paler by the second.

Behind her, Makarov was already as pale as a ghost. "Laxus… Mirajane… you…" he pointed at them, his finger trembling.

"M-m-m-master! I c-can explain!" Mira stuttered.

Makarov's face began to turn pink. "P-p-punishment! For the both of you!" he yelled.

Mirajane looked like she was going to die of embarrassment, and even Laxus' eyes widened in shock. "Oi oi. Why are we getting punished, gramps?" he grumbled. "As if it's any of your business if I get a girlfriend."

"WHAT?!" everyone seemed to yell at the same time. Lucy and Levy looked at each other ecstatically. Were they really hearing what they were hearing right now?

"W-wh-when?!" Makarov paled.

'W-well, we didn't want to tell anybody but—" Mira began, shyly.

"A year ago." Laxus interrupted.

"One year?! That's longer than yours and my relationship combined!" Lucy whispered to Levy, who nodded furiously.

Meanwhile, it looked like Makarov had lost all his will to fight. "My Laxus… Dating… One year…" He mumbled dazedly. Suddenly, he collapsed onto the ground.

The uproar that followed was fantastic.

Turns out, Makarov was a lot more protective of his grandson than he cared to admit. When he finally came to, the three of them had a long chat about hiding things from him, choosing life partners, and well, a lot of other nonsensical arguments. (Lucy and Levy got the dragon slayers to eavesdrop for them.)

As for the picture Levy took? They still kept it. Even though Mira didn't try anything for a very long time, it helped keep the tables turned when she did begin again. All it took was one flash of it for her to abandon any funny ideas. They even loaned it to Gray one day, when he found the barmaid conspiring with Juvia.

Long story short, thanks to that, the two of them finally got the peace they wanted. And despite how much Mira hated the existence of it, even she seemed more relaxed now that she didn't have to hide her relationship.

That is, until one day, Lucy and Levy lost the picture.

But that's a story for another day.

Author's Note: Happy Valentine's Day! I'm so glad I managed to get this up in time for it, and this also marks the end of this multi-chap fic! I experienced a lot of frustration writing it, but I also had a lot of fun. Sorry if my writing got really sloppy in these two epilogue chapters, and thanks to everyone whom has accompanied me on this journey so far. Your guilt tripping me in the reviews was really effective in getting me to write *thumbs up*

Jokes aside, if you have any requests for future story ideas I'd love to hear them! I'm also taking short fic/headcanon/AU etc. requests on my Tumblr (nataritei), so feel free to come chat with me there! 'til then (hearts)