A/N: Isn't it sad when the Disney movie Wall•e has more death (those poor robots) than both Fairy Tail and One Piece combined? Isn't it sad when you're so obsessed with your OTP that you can't help picturing them as main characters in said Disney movie (or any Disney movie, really)? Isn't it sad when you're watching an innocent movie like Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and you wonder obsessively about how well the characters—in whatever fandom you're interested in—would do in that universe?

Yes. Yes, to all of it. It is sad, and it sucks. Especially when you're me and watching movies just spark inspiration for a fun fanfic but you barely have the time to write at all.

We're on attempt six! Next chapter will be the last attempt and the last chapter (besides the Bonus of course). Ah. It feels good. It really does.

Enjoy and as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima

Seven Attempts to Fall

Attempt Six: 31 December x791, 11:05 p.m.

Lucy watched her breath curl in the cool air.

Juvia, in an attempt to right her wrongs, had pleaded to the blonde to come with her to watch the yearly ball-drop in Magnolia. The golden-haired woman refused at first, saying that this was the time where the bluenette should spend time with her fiancé instead of trying to make up for something she had already forgiven her for. It was quite obvious that Juvia did not take any of that.

The next thing Lucy knew, the blue-haired woman stormed into her apartment (why did they share where they kept their spares again?), critically eyed the oversized t-shirt and the nearly hidden shorts the blonde normally wore to bed, shoved a thick coat into her arms, and literally shoved the light-haired woman out of the apartment. Which was where she was at currently– standing in the middle of Main street—and early, might she add—freezing her legs off but glad that the crowd wasn't there yet because their combined heat would warm the air too much and she wouldn't be able to amuse herself by watching her breath form and disappear once again in the night air.

She wonders if she'd ever get tired of it– watching the cold Magnolian air chill her expelled breath she meant. Being born and raised in Acalypha, which was normally (or abnormally) warm all year round, there was nothing like this. Not at all.

And as much as she loved her friends, and vice versa, they never understood her fascination with something this simple. Which was to be expected because Levy grew up here in Magnolia, where this wouldn't be so rare in the colder months; Gray lived half of his live in the North near the land of Isvan, where it was snowing practically all year; Juvia lived in Amefurashi Village, where it rained for nearly three-quarters of the year and snowed the last; and Gajeel was born in the mountains, where the altitude was higher and the air was naturally colder.

The only thing that Lucy was most disappointed with was that it didn't snow.

Sometimes the small patch of grass outside of her apartment frosted over, the morning dew unable to fight off the morning chill. The roads and sidewalks themselves have seen ice in their days. So one would expect that with this much cill in the air, it would snow even just a little. But no. Never in the two years that Lucy had spent here did it snow.

It wasn't as if it was a rare anomaly for it to snow in Magnolia because it was quite normal actually. Even Levy said it was strange whenever the blonde brought it up, because the city had seen more white Christmases in its day than not. And although Lucy jokes about her 'luck', it was probably that which kept the white flakes from falling; her so-called 'luck' was a more often a curse. So that was why she went by her middle name, Lucy, when she moved out to Magnolia.

And yes, her name literally is Lucky Lucy Heartfilia much to her chagrin.

Not even her friends knew that though. To them, she was just Lucy No-middle-name Heartfilia and she wanted to keep it that way for now. Eventually though, she was determined to find someone with an even more ridiculous name than hers and they'd laugh at the absurdity of it all. And when she finds someone she loved enough to marry and wants to settle down, she really hoped that he wouldn't laugh when the priest said her full name.

Unless she married that person with the equally ridiculous name and they could both laugh at the alter.

Lucy lift her hands to her mouth to share some of the warmth in her breath, her giggles muffled into her cupped palms. She could only imagine the shocked looks on her friends' faces when her full name was revealed. They always joked about how she had the worst luck in the world and to think that Luck was literally her first name.

She felt Juvia shoot a curious look her way, but the blonde waved her off, the amused curling of her lips hidden by her pale hands. Almost getting caught by her friend's suspicious stare only made her amusement grow further.

Maybe she could try to convince her hypothetical future-husband to tape the ceremony. Not for the memory, or as a keepsake, but just for that moment alone when their names were announced. A camera would never capture the unseen emotions in that moment as well as a memory would, but if she could stare at her friends' gobsmacked expressions and repeat it over and over and over again, then a camera would be enough. Memories will only make the viewing funnier. Seeing as a phone-call distracted her blue-haired best friend, the golden-haired woman didn't bother to hide her smile this time.

The crowd slowly trickled around her without her noticing, the thrumming excitement in the air was what brought her back. Her eyes widened when she saw nothing but unfamiliar faces. Her blue-haired best friend was nowhere to be found and she forcefully pushed down the slight bit of panic that clutched at her heart. She hated crowds, never liked them and never will. The golden-haired woman only tolerated them when she knew someone or if someone she knew was with her.

It's easy to feel alone in a crowd.

Feeling alone was the reason why she moved to Magnolia in the first place.

The grip on her heart loosed somewhat as a familiar face of one of the canal boaters smiled and waved at her. She managed a wave back, but it didn't look like the man noticed the tenseness in the small movement. He just smiled once more before disappearing further in the crowd. Sure the man's presence wasn't as effective as if she saw one of her friends, but it worked and she was thankful for it.

Now thinking a little more calmly, the blonde woman scanned the crowd for another familiar face. Or hair– she'd even take familiar hair at this point. Lucy couldn't fathom how she had been separated from Juvia in the first place. It was possible that she unknowingly stepped away to give the blue-haired woman some privacy. Actually. Yeah. That was probably it. Gray was one of the first people she met in Magnolia and he was always so despondent emotionally, but ever since he and the blue-haired woman announced their engagement...

It was strange hearing him be so... mushy whenever Juvia was involved.

It was weird.

Really weird.

Not to say that she wasn't happy for them, because she honestly was. Especially since Juvia asked her to be in the bridal party (a few months ago, they decided to opt out of the honorary parties like Maid of Honor and Best Man because apparently there would be no single members in their party. Lucy had been highly offended at their confidence that they'd pair her up by then). All Lucy needed a bit more time to get acquainted with the new version of her friend and she'll feel less weird around his emotionally openness.

The golden-haired woman squeaked in surprise as she felt herself being unknowingly nudged deeper into the crowd. A scowl dropped her lips as she regained control of her legs and started to maneuver herself through the bodies of excited Magnolian citizens. Her brown-orbs caught on a blue head of hair a couple of yards in front of her and she felt a breath leave her lips.

Blue hair was pretty common in Fiore, so she didn't let her hopes raise too high but any lead was a lead no matter how wrong it might be.

Lucy pushed through the crowd and gasped in surprise when the last few bodies moved out of the way, causing her to stumble. She would have nearly fallen on her face if it wasn't for the arm that caught her around the waist at the last minute. The golden-haired woman clutched the arm like a lifeline, scrambling to regain her footing and turned her neck to thank her savior. Unfortunately, the sight of pink– ah, sorry. The sight of salmon colored hair stopped her short and then her eyes turned towards the blue head of hair she spotted earlier.

The girl, looking around nineteen—twenty at most—peered at her with a tilted head. Her amber-orbs locked onto her chocolate gaze and offered a hesitant smile that pulled at the blonde's heart. The teen hung off of the arm that wasn't wrapped around her waist and Lucy smiled past the unwanted churn in her stomach. She turned to look back up at the salmon-haired man and hastily stepped out of his hold with a grateful smile. Despite the troubled look on his face, he offered a familiar smile that still caused her heart to skip a beat.

She was still a little mad at him, but she understood that he was forced under the mistletoe too. It wasn't as if he asked for that to happen and Lucy realized that her anger was misplaced and pointless. It still hurt to think about, no doubt about that. However, she never took in account that they're two sides of the coin that their friends were flipping. Besides, it never dawned on her to think that maybe he already had someone else. Someone that their friends might not even be aware of and then guilt suddenly hit her.

Maybe the girl... well she is pretty. Really pretty actually. She kind of reminded Lucy of Levy; tiny and delicate with eyes a little too big for her face. The two bluenettes shared a kind of beauty that often went underestimated. The young woman's timidness was just too cute to handle and before she knew it, Lucy engulfed the smaller girl in a bear hug. The blue-haired girl let out a squeak, half out of embarrassment and the other half from surprise.

The golden-haired woman let out a giddy giggle, pulling away a second before the smaller woman could respond. The bluenette's face was painted red when Lucy cooed at how cute she was, refraining from drawing the girl into another quick cuddle.

There was still timidness deep in her amber depths but also a dash of tentative delight. After a quick look over the blonde's shoulder and confirming whatever with the man behind her, the small bluenette grinned widely. The genuine joy in the motion reminded Lucy a lot of– she turned to look over her shoulder at the salmon-haired gave her that heart-skipping, lop-sided smile and jumped right into the introductions.

Apparently, the young woman the blonde publicly harassed according to the eyes of the law, was his half-sister and not anything else.

She wanted to hide in a hole after hearing that, her face pinking prettily. Sure, the thought was a little more than disturbing now, but they shared no resemblance other than their smiles. It was an easy mistake no matter how daft she felt after making it. Her name was Wendy Marvel and the small bluenette explained that she took her mother's maiden name and that's why it differed so much from her older brother's. Lucy didn't have the heart to tell Wendy that she didn't know her brother's last name.

Or his first for that matter.

Yeah. Wendy definitely didn't need to know that.

The pair was shocked out of their little world when the cathedral's bell rang proud. Wendy set her a confused look and Lucy happily jumped into explaining that the bells signaled half-an-hour to midnight. The little bluenette's eyes widened in slight panicked, her amber-orbs turning to stare up at her brother pleadingly. Lucy was too amused with Wendy's expression to notice the olive-orbs that flickered towards her almost too reluctant to agree, but then his agreeing laughter mingled in the buzzing air.

The blue-haired girl excitedly turned back to the blonde and asked if she wanted to join them to which the woman politely declined. Wendy was disappointed but brightened when Lucy dragged her into another quick cuddle. The bluenette giggled as the blonde cooed over how cute her pout was and how she wished that she had a little sister as cute as Wendy was.

Before parting, Lucy invited the blue-haired girl over to her café for a cup of hot chocolate and a pastry of her choice. All free of charge of course.

The salmon-haired man made an indignant noise, bringing both women's attention to him. He playfully complained at the unfairness of getting a coupon while his sister got free stuff just because of her 'cuteness'. Wendy giggled and shot back to her brother with a smirk, boasting that Lucy thought she was cuter than his ugly mug. The golden-haired woman laughed off the warmth that the man's pout did to her and he grumbled about the little bluenette hanging out too much with their cousin.

Suddenly, the pinkette turned his olive-gaze to her. Something flashed in his orbs before a determined smirk pushed at his lips and he pouted again, asking bluntly if she thought he was cute at all. Lucy's jaw dropped at his question, her face flushing a cherry red as she shot an incredulous look at Wendy. The blue-haired girl only giggled, finally taking some pity on the golden-haired woman and started to push him away.

He protested loudly, making her face flush deeper when he cried out that he really did want to know.

Lucy saw Wendy roll her eyes before the small bluenette stopped a brief second to wave. The blonde held one hand over her mouth to hide her smile and her blush, using the other hand to wave back. Once they were out of sight, Lucy held her hands to her face, willing the air to cool down her flush. The pinking cheeks started to hurt by how much she was smiling and her heart was pounding so quickly, she wouldn't have been surprised if it suddenly took off and left her.

Then again, maybe it already did.