014. Birthday
Lucy – To be surrounded by gifts is another way of saying you're surrounded by love!
"Can I take it off yet, Natsu?"
"No way! I told'ja already, you can take it off when I say so!"
"But it's really hard to move around like this- Whoa!"
"I got you, Lucy!"
"T-Thanks, Happy. That was close."
"I bet it's 'cause you're too heavy."
"What does that have to do with tripping while I'm blindfolded?! Anyway, what's all this about? You just suddenly told me to put it on…"
"Just a little farther!"
"Speaking of which, I saw Gray and Erza sneaking off earlier. This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with them, would it?"
"N-Nope! Not at all! Not even a little bit!"
"You should've seen Juvia; she was practically biting her nails off. And she glared at me for some reason, like it was my fault!"
"Ah, we're here!"
"Where exactly is 'here'?"
She felt Natsu's hands gently slipping the cloth off her eyes and blinked into total darkness for a moment; then there was the flick of a switch and the whole area flooded with light.
"SURPRISE!"
Lucy cringed at the sudden adjustment and the exuberant cheer that roared at her in all directions, before her eyes snapped wide open and she realized she was standing in the threshold of the guild, gaping at the sight that awaited her.
The entire guild was decorated with glittering little paper star ornaments hanging from the ceiling, banisters draped with colorful ribbons, and right in the middle of the guild hall was every single member with wide grins on their faces. And even so, no one seemed more excited than Natsu and Happy, who beamed at Lucy as they moved to stand in front of her.
"Happy birthday, Lucy!"
She blinked once, twice, opened her mouth but had nothing to say. "W-What…"
"Don't tell me you thought we would forget." Gray spoke up then, shirtless as almost always and holding up a large cake with Erza and Wendy's help. Smiles lit up their faces as well, and the other members began to shout their own congratulations.
The rest of the celebration was mostly a blur, and Lucy would wake up in the morning with the entire guild passed out around her, evidence of Fairy Tail's characteristic parties scattered everywhere. Some of her celestial spirits had even shown up of their own accord, led by Loke.
And the clearest memory Lucy tucked away deep in her heart afterwards was the feeling of sheer happiness that she had not been forgotten.