Wow this fic sure gets some positive feedback, thank you for the reviews! I am gonna mention all of the people who reviewed last time: xXMurasakihimexX, Nora57, DangoLuver, elee9497, Gracy-chan, Guest aaand Sakura9312. Hope there are many more who are excited for part 3, here it is!

Chapter 2

First Blunder

Sweat gathered over captain's forehead and began to trickle down gradually. The girl stood in front of him with a warm smile, as she kept looking at his sides with her big, brown orbs. So he let the cat out of the bag, and immediately rushed in to ask the question he has been getting impatient over for a while now.

"Who are you?" He repeated.

"Well, I guess it doesn't hurt revealing my identity." She muttered mysteriously as she stepped ahead. His heart picked up its pace.

"I am Lucy Heartfilia, nice to meet you!" Halting, she beamed as she extended her hand towards him. Gray didn't move, instead he looked at her with an odd curiosity, as if she had not extended her hand but instead had asked him to become her lover or something. It was only when she gave him a questioning glance that he realized just where was he and what was happening.

"Nice to meet you, I am Gray..." He finally spoke, and shook her hand. He did it rather reluctantly though.

For a second, the two shared a business-like smile. And then the bubble of silence popped.

"And?" He said, raising his eyebrow.

"Um. What?"

"Don't you have something more useful to share?" He gritted his words.

"Not particularly..." She replied, suddenly breaking eye-contact.

Gray's gaze only became sharper. He was definitely on to something.

"You know, girl. I might not look like it, but I am still a pirate, you know." He gestured rather forcefully.

"So?" The blonde gave him a puzzling look.

"So, you ask... I can do... bad stuff to you?" He provoked.

"Wait- your clothes!" She yelled.

"Ah. Wait a second," He paused, quickly dressed up again, and yet again stood tall in front of her. "Done. Now speak." He said nonchalantly.

"Tch. I guess, that didn't work."

"Hey, you just clicked your tongue, right?! You little." He shouted at her, tightening his grip.

"I got it, I got it so let go of my hand! Kindly. Please..." She practically whimpered.

"Ah... Right..."

Now what? Even he, the fearsome sea thief was starting to feel bad for hurting this young lady.

"No! Pirates aren't supposed to be emotional. Be brave, Gray. Actually, be ruthless!" He said to himself, and grinned rather eerily. "Yup, that's more like it!"

"You are acting quite scary..." She informed.

"Huh, so what? Girl, speak already." "He stopped, lowering his voice to a puny squeak as he finished the sentence, "speak or else I won't last long... with this grin..."

Of-course, she didn't hear the entirety of it, he had a reputation to keep, the reputation of a cool, badass pirate... She did not, right?

"Did she just chuckle now?"

He looked at the mirror behind, and was shocked. For the ice maker looked as if he had just eaten a sour plum or something.

"Girl! Don't laugh!"He said roughly.

"Girl, girl, you say. I have a name for you kind information." She hissed, mimicking him.

"Fine. Lucy! Don't laugh!" He repeated the exact same scene.

"That's your point?! You're... ridiculous!" She laughed wholeheartedly, rolling on her stomach.

"This girl... Wait- I should admit my loss this time."

He gritted his teeth, as he clenched her delicate shoulders by hand, and forcibly pushed her towards the wall. With his one hand against the wall, he interlocked her in between himself and the wooden surface. And then, he said for the third and last time, "Speak." This time, he was louder, as if was ordering his subordinates.

"Got it..." She broke the eye-contact, her cheeks tinting red as she stopped struggling.

This got his focus over her lips. Those soft, luscious lips.

"Actually..."

He gulped with expectations.

"I am a princess, second princess of Fiore kingdom..." She finally said it, but already looked beaten by the end of it.

At that time, a thousand birds (or possibly a few more) flew by the ship.

"...Hai?"

"Like. I. said. I am a princess, don't make me repeat! It's... embarrassing." She shied away at the last word.

"... Cute." The pirate- captain- fearsome- guy thought. He pulled away, shook his head, recollecting his thoughts together.

Th ice mage looked at her sternly to catch any sign of guilt or regret. She wasn't lying, he could tell as he had a keen eye. Lying didn't work on him, that's why he had been able to come so far. Pirate life was tough.

"Wait... If you are a princess then!"

"It can't be- It would mean that girl is part of royalty? Impossible."

It could be just his instinct but for some reason, he always found the supposed-to-be-kidnapped-girl to have a more sorrowful background. To him, it seemed as if she had lived a rather unhappy and lonely life. An experimental object- that's how the people saw her. She couldn't have been accepted that easily in the society. Meanwhile, this girl in front of her stood tall and proud, showing little to no signs of all of that. Loneliness might be one thing, but she didn't look unhappy from any angle, that much he could tell by his experience.

Suddenly, a memory flashed across his mind.

"That girl has a heart mark over her forehead."

His senses enlightened.

"Girl- I mean, Lucy! Can you do me one favor?!" He uttered hurriedly, placing his hands over her arms.

"S-sure but... what's with you all of a sudden?"

Suddenly his face turned dark, or so it seemed to her.

"Wait- are you going to ask me for something perverted?! I forgot you are a pervert, oh my God! How could I!" She acted dramatically, as she began to flail around.

"Shut up! Just do this one thing, I guarantee it isn't dirty!" He was on point.

"So overly serious... Okay. What should I do?"

"Show me your forehead." He said in a commanding tone, the captain in him had awakened at the wrong time.

"Sure, but... is there a reason for it?" She knew it was going to be unanswered but asked anyways.

"Just do it."

"Weirdo. There better be a good reason for it." She gaped at his face, as she reached her forehead to slide away the fringes. And then she showed him her everything... the forehead, that is.

He was quiet himself, but his eyes were clearly widened.

"What- did I grow horns or something?"" She laughed at her own silly joke.

It was actually the opposite.

There was nothing there. No- nothing heart-shaped, not even a sign of it.

"... Haha..."

"Hah..." Lucy just gawked at the nonsense happening before her eyes.

That was some serious nervous laughter. On one hand, he was glad that the blonde whom he had captured turned out to be a safe entity. He had grown rather fond of her. But at the same time, his pride was shattered. He had just made the biggest blunder of his life. All while being a pirate. Correction- A cool, fearsome pirate.

"That's not cool at all..." He raised his inner voice. He would never be able to forgive himself for this.

"Lucy. Tell me another thing." he inquired with a grave expression.

"Sure." She smiled at him, but it was more of a "are-you-still-sane-lol" gesture.

"Why did you not struggle inside the sack?"

There. He had finally said what was troubling him the most, the question which had been bugging him, well, like a bug, has finally been raised.

In reply, the blonde tilted her head, and just grinned a little as she tied her hands backward.

"That would be because I want to join the ship, of-course!" She said cheerfully.

"Ah..." He gaped at her.

It didn't matter if his ears were ringing or not anymore.

"A princess wanting to become a pirate? Sounds totally legit." He facepalmed.

"And what would be the reason for that?" His mind was about to burst with questions.

"Uh-uh. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Now you must answer a question of my own." Lucy batted her eyes. He just had to give in, there was no option.

(She had her aims high. He could already tell by her face)

"Go on." He muttered quietly.

"Why did you act so shocked after checking my forehead?"

Right on the nail.

"In-fact, I felt something was off from the start. You guys were acting very suspicious in the cafe. And if I remember correctly, there was this redhead-"

"... Erza."

"Ah, so that's what she is called. She seemed nice."

"Oh, you don't want to know."

"Want to know what? More importantly, that facade of yours! Don't even get me started on that. That was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen!" She paused, trying to hold back her laugh.

As for the ice maker, he didn't even care anymore. He just stared at the wooden wall with blank eyes as if his soul was lost or something.

"Well, I guess lying would be fruitless at this point." He sighed.

"You mean, at any point."

"Did this girl just hinted of an upcoming long-standing companionship?"

"Actually, we guys were looking for this girl and she is capable of some dangerous magic. As a result, she is a wanted sample all over the region."

The blonde nodded.

But it turns out it isn't you and... I guess, that's it." He glossed over the remaining story.

"I see."

"That's your reply?!" He sweatdropped.

"What? Am I supposed to dance or something at this point? Howl like a wolf?" She narrowed her eyes.

"That's not it! We kidnapped you, you know!"

"So what? I personally want to be part of the crew, so I consider it a blessing. A good act." She shook away the possibility.

"We were going to sell you to some bad guys, you know! We were going to be rewarded for that, you know!" He reacted with various outrageous expressions at each of her statement.

"Well, that's bad." She said with an (almost) straight face.

"This woman..."

"Wait- if you are not the person I was asked to kidnap, then what the hell are you still doing on my ship?!"

He was starting to act comical by this point.

"Like I said, I want to join the ship." She stood on her ground firmly.

"Oh great. And who exactly would let you do that?" He smiled fake at her.

"You, of-course. Are you an idiot?!"

"No, I am not and I won't. Why would I do that anyway?"

"Well, I am a princess so I can ask my father- the king any time and arrest you guys." She grinned mischievously.

He flinched. That would definitely be a difficult trial, even for him.

"But there's a tiny problem, so I might not be able to do that, after-all..." She said in a mellow tone, scratching her cheek.

"Oh, great. Let's hear that." He said sarcastically.

"I ran away from home... I am a runaway princess." She revealed awkwardly.

Great. Another fact to be noted.

"Huh? I don't even- A runaway- a princess- you are more like a storm."

"Well, you did say you like me..." She whispered.

.

Memories.

.

"That was an a-act!"

"Oh really?~" She muttered, examining his face carefully.

"You. Just. Just leave. I am so tired and want sleep. And-"

"She ain't going anywhere!"

The door opened with a thud as he welcomed the incoming guest. More like- he was forced to welcome the fierce being. Same thing.

The swordmistress rushed in to reach the blonde, quickly grasping her hands in hers as she sobbed.

"Lucy! I heard everything." Erza said seriously.

"You eavesdropped?!" Gray shouted, but was ignored.

"It was a touching story! You suffered a lot on your own, didn't you? I am sorry for that. Don't worry, because from now on, you are with us!" She said it all in a single breath with much concern in her eyes. it looked like she was about to weep any moment.

"Erza-san... really?" Lucy sweatdropped at the strange yet warm feeling of acceptance from a strangely warm person.

"You bet on that!" She reassured, smacking her chest.

"And Gray! How could you be so rude to her! You really need to relearn your manners!" The redhead shouted at the raven-haired guy.

"Erza! You don't know how much of a storm that girl is and-"

"Quiet! I won't hear a word against Lucy. She is an important comrade from now on." She issued her orders.

"Yes, milady!" The captain squeaked.

And just then, he heard a chuckle from the girl's side.

"She is definitely enjoying this scene!"

"Now come, Lucy. Let me show your room." She said warmly as she began to push (or so it seemed) the blonde outside the room.

"R-right..."Lucy agreed, more like she had no say in it. But before going, she performed one action which caused his blood pressure to rise to the peak!

She had... sticked out her tongue towards him, which meant, she had made fun of him, which meant his pride as a pirate was in pieces and- oh boy.

The door closed with another much-awaited thud, but with a well-earned glare from Erza-sama. Gray just gulped down whatever feelings emerged inside him. It's not like he was feeling scared or anything. Pirates don't get scared, bleh.

The ice maker sighed a mixture of relief, anticipation and worry as he sat on his majestic chair and leaned back comfortably.

The worry-lines on his forehead never hurt this much until now. Even the calming sound of the passing wave, the faint chirping of the birds from the faraway sky and the fresh sea breeze couldn't ease his anxiety. His head was practically hurting too much.

He grabbed a pen, and began to drabble down his random, disarrayed thoughts.

"Let's check out how this freaking day went..." He whispered to himself.

- I kidnapped a girl, 100% sure that its the target.

- Except that she wasn't. The girl still holds some powers though, or so my intuition says.

- She's a princess- a runaway. I have kidnapped her?!

- She wants to be a pirate. A weirdo.

- Erza adores her. *Well, I am somewhat interested in her, too so I guess, I can't blame her*- Wait, that's not related! (the starred passage has been scribbled over)

And then he banged his head against the table, took in a deep breathe. And then, he roared,

"So much for being a fearsome pirate!"

And then he shut his eyes, resting them.

For a long while, he remained still, enjoying the coldness of the desk. Suddenly, he sprang up.

"Come to think of it, that girl- Lucy is that charismatic yet its surprising how she holds no special powers." He spoke to himself.

"Or maybe those are some undetectable powers." He chuckled.

"As if."

And then he banged his head for a second time, feeling sleepy.

"Good night, Gray." A voice echoed. It was a familiar, sweet voice, almost like a lullaby- something he couldn't struggle.

And then he lost his senses, sleeping at the very same place. A very peaceful expression was decorating his face.

[To Be Continued...]

Rain Corner

Its finally here! There's so much dialogue between Gray and Lucy, then again all of my fics tend to be like that. I am sorry, haha... At least Erza was there to keep things interesting. Other than that, I am kinda satisfied. Hope you guys liked it as well!

As always, please leave me with your kind reviews and feedback! Until next time!