Okay, you'll have to admit I was quick this time. Hope you all like the chapter!

By the way, I have a question for you guys. Have any of you ever eaten a brazilian sweet called "brigadeiro"? That was supposed to be the cover of Lucy's cake, but I couldn't find the proper term in English, maybe one of you can help me.

Disclaimer: FT belongs to Mashima Hiro-sensei.

Beneath The Southern Cross

Chapter VI – Chocolate Cake

"You look hot on this apron." Sting said through the lacryma communicator he had given her before the trip to Tenrou Island.

"Thank you very much." She smiled to the image of her boyfriend.

"What are you cooking?" he asked, almost being able to feel the scent of whatever deliciousness she was making.

"Chocolate cake."

"Ahh, damn it! Why did I have to come back to my guild?"

Lucy laughed.

"Because you have bills to pay. And a Master to make happy."

"Damn that old man, now I want a piece of your cake."

"I promise I'll make one just for you when you come to visit, okay? Will be waiting for you, just give me a heads-up."

"Can I come tomorrow?"

Lucy laughed once again.

"No, you can't. You leave tomorrow with Rogue-kun, remember?"

"He doesn't need me." he whined like a small child.

"If you come I won't give you any cake."

"You're mean."

"A girl in Fairy Tail must learn how to."

"You say that, but I'm sure Titania was born this way."

"No, she learned too. However, she had to get the PhD in order to put everyone on line."

"One scary woman, that one is. Especially being able to defeat Minerva."

"That's our Erza."

Sting sighed.

"Must go now. Master is yelling something with Yukino. Miss you already."

She smiled warmly to him.

"Miss you too. Be safe while on your job."

"Don't worry."

His image disappeared and Lucy found herself alone on her kitchen again. She sat on her sink and waited the final minutes to her cake to be ready. Happy with its consistence, she took it out of the oven and placed it on the sink. She covered it with melted chocolate.

As soon as she was done, she heard a knock on her door.

"One minute!" she said while untying her apron and hanging it on her kitchen's door.

Opening the door, she was shocked to see Natsu standing there.

"Natsu?" her heart skipped a beat as he said his name.

She could clearly see how uncomfortable he was.

"I smelled your chocolate cake, so I decided to stop by."

She smiled fondly at him. She knew quite well that wasn't the real reason why he came there. He clearly wanted to tell her something, but she definitely didn't want to push him.

"I think this is the first time you actually knocked on my door." Lucy said, amused. "Let's make a habit out of this, shall we?"

He let out a nervous smile and sat on her couch.

"Where's Happy?" she asked, bringing two plates of cake out of the kitchen.

"He went on a job with Wendy and Charle."

Lucy smiled.

"Is she finally giving up?"

Natsu chuckled.

"I guess she is. I saw her accepting flowers from him one other day."

"Oh, how cute! I'm so glad!"

Natsu took a bite of the cake, savouring it.

"I missed this." He said, his voice barely a whisper.

Lucy just waited for him to elaborate a little more.

"I'm sorry I was so hard on you, Luce. It was never my intention. I just… I don't like him. I'll never be able to really like him, I think. But I like you. You are my best friend, and I don't want to lose you because of him."

"You'll never lose me, Natsu. I love you. You're my best friend too. I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

"I'm sorry I was such a jerk."

"It's okay, really. Let's just forget it, okay?"

He nodded, and opened a huge grin. Putting the cake aside for a minute, he crushed her on a bear hug.

"I'm glad I came here. Your cake is delicious, Luce."

"I'm glad too, Natsu. Now, please, I will die!"

He let her go with a laugh and turned his attention to the cake once again.

"Can I have more?" he asked after half a minute.

Lucy chuckled.

"Of course you can."

Natsu happily jumped off the couch and went to the kitchen to get himself another slice of the delicious cake.

He stayed with her for the whole afternoon, just enjoying her company, talking about nothing and everything, eating more and more cake. By the end of the day, Lucy found herself happier than ever. And with no remaining cake.

"So," Natsu began, before heading out. "drop by the guild early tomorrow. Let's find a job!"

"Sounds really good, Natsu. My rent needs to get paid."

He grinned widely at her and went away.

Lucy watched him go with a smile playing on her lips. She was so happy he came to talk to her! Her life was finally complete again. Maybe now things would finally turn out just right for her. She had a boyfriend, her relationship with Natsu was fine, Fairy Tail was her family. There was nothing else she could ask for her.

Humming a cheerful song, she got a hot shower, changed into comfortable pyjamas and got herself under her covers. Getting the lacryma, he thought of Sting.

"Good evening, beautiful." He greeted her with a smirk.

"Actually, good night." She smiled.

"Already? Since when you sleep so early?"

"Tomorrow I'll probably go on a job."

"Oh, Salamander went to visit, huh?"

"How could you guess that?"

Sting chuckled.

"I can see this smile on your face. You're happy. Which can only mean the bastard apologized or something."

"Quite the good guess, Sting."

"I know my girl."

She smiled to him.

"That was real cute. What's happening to you, sweetie?"

He laughed.

"You happened to me."

"Oh, wow, so we're romantic today?"

"Weren't we always?"

Her laugh echoed his.

"Anyways, just calling to let you know I'll be leaving Magnolia tomorrow too."

"Message received. Call me when you get back home. I'll do the same."

"You're on it. Love you."

"Love you too."

On the next day, Lucy got to the guild quite early in the morning. The sun had just barely showed up, lazily spreading his pale yellow light on the blue sky.

"Good morning, Lucy!" Mirajane wished her.

"Good morning, Mira!"

She sat on one of the benches and ordered hot chocolate and cookies.

"I thought you baked a cake yesterday." Mira said while handing her the order.

"I did, but Natsu ate the whole thing."

"Natsu?" Mira's blue eyes lit up. "Are you two talking again?"

"Yes. He stopped by yesterday to apologize."

"What good news! I'm happy for you, Lucy!"

"Thank you, Mira!"

Lucy was just about to take a bite when Happy appeared, flying quickly towards her.

"Luuuucyyy! I'm so happy!"

"Happy! I thought you were with Wendy and Charle."

Happy hugged her fondly.

"We came back last night, then Natsu told me you two made up and that we were going on a job together, and I was so happy!"

Lucy hugged the cute exceed back.

"I was very happy too."

Natsu soon joined them at the bar.

"Where's Erza and the ice bastard?" he asked.

"Oh, don't you know?" Mira asked. "Mystogan is in town, Erza will probably spend the week with him."

"Really? That's so nice!" Lucy said. "It's been a while since he last dropped by."

"Yes, Erza was really cheerful when she came to let me know."

"We're just waiting for Gray, then." Natsu announced, asking Mira for a mug of milk.

Lucy was surprised by his attitude. She expected him to whine non-ending about Erza not being able to join them. Somehow, the thinking he had probably done really changed him. Lucy was sure it had 'Erza Scarlet' written all over it.

Finally managing to eat her cookies, Lucy almost choked when Juvia sneaked on her.

"Oh, my god, Juvia, you almost scared me to death."

"Juvia is sorry, Lucy-san. But Juvia accidentally heard what you were saying. Since Erza-san is unable to go, can Juvia go in her place?"

Lucy smiled to the girl. When would Gray finally notice he liked her as much as she liked him?

"I think you should ask Gray, Juvia. I don't really want to make this decision for him."

Juvia nodded and hugged her. Now that Lucy had a boyfriend she was no longer her rival in love, so Juvia could definitely afford to have her as a close friend again.

"Thank you, Lucy-san."

Lucy just laughed, unsure of what to do. She never really knew how to deal with Juvia.

As soon as Gray set foot on the guild hall, the Water Mage went running towards him.

"Gray-sama, can Juvia come with you to your job?"

He raised an eyebrow to her and looked around the guild. Erza was nowhere to be seen, so that probably explained her question.

"I don't know about that, Juvia. Can you promise not to do anything stupid, like you did last time?"

Lucy watched, amused, as Juvia's cheeks went as scarlet as Erza's hair. What could have she possibly done to make Gray that mad?

"Gray-sama knows Juvia can't promise that." She whispered to him.

"Then, no, you can't come with us."

She sighed.

"Please? It's been a while since we went on a mission together, please, Gray-sama!"

"Only if you promise me you won't put yourself in danger because of me."

His dark eyes were staring at her quite harshly, Lucy could notice. Juvia had really upset him. Lucy couldn't remember ever seeing her with an expression like that, save when he was in the middle of an important fight.

"Gray-sama…" she whispered.

"Promise me, Juvia."

Sighing in defeat, she nodded.

"Juvia promises."

"Okay, so now we can go." Natsu announced, jumping off his bench.

Lucy smiled to him. Yes, he was really more considerate towards couples. Erza undoubtedly got to him with the subject.

Juvia happily followed them into the train's station, walking side by side with Lucy.

"So, Lucy-san, how is Sting-san?"

Lucy was surprised to hear such a question.

"He is fine, thanks for asking, Juvia."

Juvia stared fiercely at her, searching for something she apparently didn't find.

"Are you happy with him? Juvia was always under the impression you liked Natsu-san."

Lucy smiled to her nakama.

"I am happy, Juvia. I understand your concern. I did like Natsu for some time, but we are friends. Is Sting who really has my heart."

Juvia smiled to her.

"Juvia is glad to know."

Lucy had never noticed Juvia cared so much about her. However, think a bit about the matter, she was always concerned about Juvia and Gray, wasn't she? She had already lost count of how many times she demanded Gray to solve their situation.

Guess that's what a family is for. The thought came to her mind naturally. She didn't need to talk to Juvia all the time to be concerned about her happiness – no, not all. Juvia was her nakama, she was a part of her family. Lucy would be always concerned about her. So, it worked both ways.

"What about you and Gray, Juvia?" Lucy asked.

The bluenette grimaced.

"Gray-sama is still on denial, but Juvia is sure she will convince him eventually."

Lucy laughed softly.

"I envy your persistence, Juvia."

"It's not really persistence, Lucy-san. When you really love someone, you don't just give up. Unless the person is with someone else."

The sentence had Lucy thinking. Juvia was right wasn't she? If she really loved Natsu, there wasn't really a reason for her to give up on him. No, she would have persisted, until he loved her back. Her heart finally rested with that conclusion. Her love for Natsu wasn't really that real. Her new love for Sting, however, was quite the contrary.

Without even noticing, she smiled. She was finally in peace with her mind and heart. There would be no doubts hunting her anymore. Natsu was her best friend, Sting was her boyfriend. It was simple like that. The feelings were different.

"Why are you smiling for, you weirdo?" Natsu asked her, when he glanced back at the two girls.

"Nothing at all, Natsu." Her smile got even wider. "Nothing at all."