At last I uploaded it! ^_^
Again, English is my second language and I'm not that good of a writer so I beg for forgiveness if there are wrong spellings or grammar...thank you!
Genre: Drama, Family, Friendship, Romance, some Humor, Hurt/ Comfort.
Pairings: GrayXLucy, ErzaXJellal, NatsuXLisanna, GajeelXLevy, SeigrainXUltear maybe.
Summary: Gray hates the world for taking his parents away, for making his life miserable. But with his new family, friends and a certain blonde girl, will they make him change the idea about the world? Or will he just hate it even more?
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail or any of its characters. I am NOT Hiro Mashima!
CHAPTER 23:Promises
Did I just do that?Gray thought as he walked his way to school with his friends. They eventually looked for him once they noticed that Gray was nowhere to be found. As soon as they found him, they immediately blurted out questions of where Gray had been. He lied of course. He can't just declare in front of everyone that he went out when he thought Mira was going to 'transform' to her 'Demon' form and instead wondered around the mansion, right?
"Gray! So how did it go?" Levy whispered when she made her way to walk beside the contemplating Gray. The latter flinched at the sudden question.
"Wha-what are you saying?" Gray answered rather loudly making everyone look at them curiously. Noticing this, the two of them smiled awkwardly to their friends and made up a story to cover up what Gray did. He sighed when his friends unexpectedly believe them again.
"So how did it go?" Levy asked again. But Natsu, who was walking behind them, heard it and decided to eavesdropped Levy and Gray's conversation.
"W-what are you saying?" Gray asked again, but this time quieter.
"Oh come on Gray, you think I believed you when you said that you were just looking for a restroom?" Levy said eyeing her friends in front to see if they were listening or not. Gray didn't answer her so she continued.
"You were gone for an hour looking for a restroom. Now,how do you expect me to believe you Gray?" she asked. He sighed again. Why is she so nosy? He thought and mentally slapped himself.But why did I do that?
Levy rolled her eyes when he didn't reply and spaced out again while Natsu smirked seeing his friend losing himself in trance.
Flashback
Graywent out of Lucy's room when Lucy brought out the topic 'practise' to Mira. He just sighed and prayed for the safety of his friend for their misfortune and instead roamed the halls of the Heartfilia's. He wasn't supposed to be wandering around without permission but if you were him you'd probably do the same thing to stay 'out of danger'. He stopped once he found a glass door leading to a terrace and went there, seated himself on one of the benches and decided to rest for a bit. He leaned his back on the bench before closing his eyes and think about what had happened yesterday. He can't shake off the thought of what had anger Natsu for him to receive a punch. 'You made her cry…' is what he said. Wait, did I, unintentionally, hurt someone dear to him?He was lost is thought and after a few minutes, he heard the glass door opened. He craned his neck to see who the person was.
"Are you one of Ms. Lucy's visitors?" a lady who was at her late 50's asked as she walked towards the sitting Gray.
He immediately stood up and paid respect by bowing his head at her. "Yes. Uhm, I'm Gray Fullbuster. I was just here to get some fresh air." Gray answered. Yea. Nice lie Gray. You just went outside to be spared from Mira's wrath.He thought.
"Oh. I'm her nanny, Supetto." She said and seated herself at the bench Gray was once seated. She gestured Gray to sit beside her and so he did.
(Silence)
"You know, Ms. Lucy was never been this happy when she was a child." She said, breaking the silence, and Gray just looked at her while she continued.
"When she was little, her only playmate was her dog and her mother. She doesn't have any friends at school because all her classmates hated her for being rich. They all thought she's a spoiled brat but, she never was. In fact, she hated being rich, being an heiress. She always wanted to be…'ordinary'."
"She suffered a lot, felt different feelings that a little child like her that time shouldn't feel, been bullied and hurt, but the worst feeling she felt was when her mother and her dog died. She was even avoided by her father. And since then, I was the only one who took care of her."
"One day, she was hurt badly. Her body was full of cuts, her hair was in disarray like it's been pulled a lot, her lips were bleeding, and her stomach was bruised maybe because someone kicked it. It was so scary to think that someone could do that to her, to a little girl." She said as she furrowed her brows remembering little Lucy's appearance when she arrived home, beaten. Gray's eyes widen.
"W-why would they do that to her?" he asked worriedly as well as confused as to why Supetto is telling him all of Lucy's past.
"All she said was that, she doesn't want to hear anyone spreading terrible rumours about her father so she answered them defending him. They maybe took it the wrong way and beat her up." Gray absentmindedly frowned.
"Lucy loved her father so much even if she was being avoided by him. She believed that one day her father will acknowledge her as his daughter again. She was somewhat thankful for that incident because her father saw and felt Lucy's love for him. He felt guilty for shunning his daughter and as Lucy had always been wishing for, she was loved again." She explained.
"But who would do that to her? Who would beat her up?" Gray asked again, he clenched his hands into a fist and deepened his frown. She's been suffering as serious as that when she's just a child? He thought and felt guilty with all the things he did to her.
"She didn't tell us exactly who's responsible. All we knew was that it was her classmate during her elementary days, that's why she transferred to another school." She said.
Suddenly, a girl with blonde hair and hazel brown eyes, crying on the rooftop flashed inside Gray's mind. His eyes widen. He remembered her, his first love. Why are they so much alike? He asked himself, puzzled. Both of them having blonde hair and brown eyes, same smile, and same past, would it be possible that Lucy and the girl from the rooftop be the same person that Gray had been waiting for?
"I'm happy." Was what made Gray snapped out of his thought. He looked at the person beside him and made a perplexed face. Supetto looked at Gray and smiled.
"I'm happy she found good friends like you." She said. Gray blinked at Supetto first before looking down and smiling sadly.
"I won't say that. I'm as terrible as her previous classmates." Gray said guiltily. Supetto just shook her head and put one of her hands at Gray's shoulder.
"You won't be here if you're like them. And I can tell just by looking at you that you deeply cared for my mistress," She said and smiled.
"I hope all of you will take good care of her. I hope that the smile she wear whenever she's with you guys will never fade." She said but Gray remained silent.
"Please make her happy, Gray-san…" were the last words he heard before Supetto left him alone. His eyes widen for the nth time of the day after realizing what Supetto said. He quickly looked at Supetto but all he saw were closed doors.
"Why did she tell me that?" he asked himself. He leaned again and closed his eyes thinking about his conversation with Supetto. And after a while, he fell asleep.
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Please make her happy, Gray-san…
Gray opened his eyes and looked blue sky was slowly turning into the shades of orange.
"I fell asleep?" He said to himself and stood up. "I think it's time to go back." He said, shoved his hands inside his pockets and started walking towards Lucy's room.
Please make her happy, Gray-san.These words kept on repeating in his mind until he arrived to his destination. He was about to open the door when he noticed that it's not noisy anymore. He was having second thoughts about coming in or not. But the words echoed in his mind again and without hesitation, he twisted the knob and came in surprising both himself and Lucy, who he found out, was alone.
"U-Uhm…h-how are you?" he asked as he walked towards Lucy's bed.
"Huh? U-uhm, I'm fine," she said. Then there was silence again. Gray was looking at her but she was avoiding his gaze.
"I really don't know why I'm still here," he said and just looked downwards, he really don't know why he's still there. Was it because of what Supetto said? He didn't know.
"Yea, I was shocked that you're still here. Everyone just went out. Where were you? You just disappeared while everyone was talking." Lucy said, a bit reluctantly and Gray sensed that Lucy wanted to know the answer to her question. But what will he say? He can't just say that he escaped from Mira's wrath, right? She will most probably tease him to death if she ever find out. He couldn't find a good answer to her question and blushed because of that. After a few seconds of thinking, he replied the most pathetic excuse of all.
"I-I was looking for the toilet…and got lost."
"But I have one if you must know," she said. He flinched. He mentally slapped himself. He forgot that there was a restroom inside her room. Damn Gray!
"R-Really? I didn't notice, maybe because it's crowded here a while ago," he explained again.
"But you were gone for an hour," Why does she have to rub it in? He thought irritatingly.
"It's because your house is too darn big!" he yelled inannoyance.
She chuckled. Is she playing games with me? He twitched and looked at her but seeing her smile made all his frustrations die.
"Why are you still here then? They went home already," she said.
What now?Gray thought.
She doesn't have any friends at school… he remembered what Supetto told him earlier and it made him uncomfortable. To think Lucy suffered something like that when she was just a child. He felt pity towards her. But what could he do? Please make her happy…But how?
"Actually, I really just want to know if you're alright but…I don't know," Gray said as he seated himself at the edge of Lucy's bed.
"I told you, I'm okay now. So you should go home already!" she said and crossed her arms while looking away. Gray stared at her.
Why do I have a feeling that you're someone I know? Why do you look so much like her? But if you are who I think you are then, why didn't you recognize who I am? Did you forget everything? Or you're just not her? He thought and didn't notice that he's been leaning towards her, looking straight into her eyes. He's too focused on looking at her that he didn't hear her stutter.
When she shut her eyes, that's when he became aware of their close proximity. He blinked and blushed but made a baffled expression. Why did she closed her eyes? He thought and smirked when a plan suddenly formed inside his head.
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(Flick)
"OUCH!" she yelped and held her forehead. Gray immediately put his index fingers on his ears.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR? I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION!" she yelled. Yep. He did the right move.
He smirked again making Lucy more irritated.
"Yea, I can see you really are alright now," Gray said and stood up. He was about to leave but stopped halfway and decided to tease Lucy a little bit.
"You don't have to close your eyes and be so flushed when I'm about to flick your forehead." He snickered and turned to leave.
He closed the door and smiled in contentment but suddenly felt culpable.
"DAMN YOU GRAY! I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!" he heard her and smiled. He sighed and went inside again.
"What do you want now? You successfully annoyed me! What else would you want?" she snapped at him and crossed her arms as she closed her eyes.
"I forgot something," Gray said casually. You won't be sad anymore…
"And what would that be? Your sanity?" she once again asked. He somewhat smiled at that.You won't feel that pain anymore…
"No. This," Once Lucy looked at him to see what he forgot, Gray held Lucy's head and leaned in again and kissed her forehead.
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Even if you'll hate me, even if you're not the girl I know, even if you push me away, even if everyone turned away from you, and even if you're not going to consider me as your friend anymore, I promise you that I'll be always here for you. You'll never suffer again… This was what Gray wanted to tell her but instead settled it with a kiss in the forehead.
Lucy's eyes were wide. He smiled and said his goodbye before walking out.
End of Flashback
He smiled to himself but it did not go unnoticed by Levy and Natsu. But now he's wondering, what will Lucy do when they meet at school? She'll probably bark every bad word at me.He thought and smirked along the way.
..ooOoo..
The next morning…
Lucy was running as fast as she could. She's going to be late, thanks to Gray. She blushed when she remembered what he did. Why did he do that? She thought and held her forehead. Her pace slowed down but after noticing it, she ran again and shook her head furiously. No Lucy! You're late and this is what you're thinking about? She mentally scolded herself.
Thankfully, she got to school five minutes before the bell. She panted and planted her hands on her knees, catching her breath. Lucy doesn't know why but, since she met Gray again and become friends with him, she became like this: always close to being late.
"Lucy…" a husky voice said. I know that voice. She muttered and reluctantly looked up. As she caught sight of 'his' face, fear spread across Lucy's beautiful face.
"La-Laxus…" she managed to say his name but it's no good. The reason why she feared guys, the reason why everyone thought she's a man-hater, and the reason why her heart aches whenever she look at him, was standing a few feet before her.
He slowly walked towards her while she backed away.
"Lucy…I-I–" he said but Lucy cut him off, never wanting to hear anything from him.
"T-The bell will s-start ringing s-soon. We sh-should get g-going now," she said and looked away, shaking. She flinched when she felt the wall on her back and Laxus was still walking close. Her breathing started to quicken and her hands began sweating.
"Lucy, I-I'm so–" Laxus was about to say something but someone cut him off for the second time.
"PRINCESS!" the blondes snapped their heads where the voice came from. Lucy's fear-stricken face turned into that of a relieved one while Laxus' confusingly soft expression turned into his usual stoic face.
"Loke," Lucy breath out the air she didn't know she was keeping in while Laxus stopped his tracks and glared daggers at the approaching strawberry-blonde boy.
"Princess, come on! We're going to be late!" Loke said and took Lucy's wrist, pulling her into a sprint towards the building.
"WAAAH~! SLOW DOWN LOKE!" was what Laxus heard before Lucy and Loke disappeared inside the school's building. He clenched his hands into a fist. Who the heck are these guys suddenly appearing nowadays? He muttered and returned his soft expression back. Lucy…
..ooOoo..
Lucy once again panted. "Thank you, Loke." she said between pants.
"So you're the girl, huh?" Loke asked, his back facing her while holding Lucy's wrist. She looked up at him and laughed awkwardly. "Y-Yea. You're probably disappointed, knowing that the 'girl' isn't as beautiful as rumour says, huh?" Lucy said hesitatingly and looked down on her wrist which Loke was somewhat holding still. She tried pulling it from him but he only tightened his grip. Lucy looked up at him again and this time he turned to look at her.
"Actually, I never really have the slightest thought of you being the girl but, I totally agree with the rumour. The girl is definitely amazingly, remarkably, and extremely beautiful!" he said and smiled. This made Lucy flinch and blushed furiously. "St-stop exaggerating!...But, thanks anyway…" she said and averted her eyes from him.
He chuckled that made Lucy pout. "What's funny?" she snapped at him. He merely shook his head, the smile never leaving his handsome face. Lucy sighed and tried to pry Loke's hand off her wrist but again, he tightened his grip. "You can let go of wrist now you know. We should get going or we'll–" she said but was cut off.
"I like you…"
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"S-stop doing that! I told you not to flirt with me, didn't I?" Lucy said and blushed once again.
"I'm not flirting with you…I mean that," Loke said with seriousness evident on his face. Lucy gulped. What is he saying? He's saying he likes me? For real? NO! He's just flirting! This is just one of his ways of getting girls! Lucy thought.
"Loke, please sto–"
Loke pulled Lucy and embraced her securely in his arms.
"I like you a lot Lucy. And I'm serious. This is not like what Gray said to you the other day. I like you, more than a friend…" Lucy's eyes widen, her heart started beating fast. She doesn't know what to do.
"I'll never let Laxus hurt you. I promise he won't lay a finger on you." He added and released her.
(School Bell)
Lucy faced him and looked apologetically. "I-I'm sorry but, I cannot–" Loke immediately raised his right hand just in front of Lucy's face that made her stop from continuing what she was about to say.
"I don't want to hear it!" Loke said and brought his hand down before smiling.
"I can wait if I had to, Lucy. Just remember that I'm always here for you, ne?" he said. Lucy again, doesn't know why but, she always found herself smiling whenever she saw Loke's sincere smile. She nodded.
"We should get going now! I'll see you when I see you!" Loke said and waved goodbye before walking to the direction of his classroom. Lucy did the same mulling over Loke's confession. It was sweet of him to say he'd wait if he had to and it made Lucy smile. How she wished that Gray would do the same. But she doubted that.
…
The day went by but there's no sign of any council boys in sight. Lucy asked the girls where the boys are but she only received a shrug.
Lucy then walked her way towards the faculty room to get something but she heard someone talking about 'sounds coming from the stock room' behind the school. She became suspicious so she decided to check it out after doing her work.
"Erza, I'm just going to the stock room, okay?" she said as soon as she got back. Erza, whose busy doing some paper works, snapped her head at her and apprehensively asked "Wh-why?"
"Well, I heard someone says that there's sound coming from the stock room so I thought I'd check it out," Lucy said walked out leaving a fretting Erza. "This is bad…" she said under her breath and went out. Juvia, Lisanna and Levy who are inside the room exchanged looks after their president left the room.
Erza took her phone from her pocket and dialled someone. "Hello, Mira? This is bad. Lucy going there. You have to move fast…"
…
At the stock room…
"Everyone! Put everything at that corner and cover it with that, FAST!" Mira said as soon as she got Erza's call.
"But why Mira?" Natsua asked, curiously.
"NO MORE QUESTIONS AND JUST DO WHAT I SAY!" Mira bellowed and looked outside to see if Lucy's there.
Everyone jumped from their spot and followed what Mira said. After placing everything in a corner they covered it with some cloth.
"What now, Mira?" Seigrain asked.
"Go and hide yourselves as well." She said and flinched when she saw something outside.
"She's here. Hide now!" she ordered them. This is why all of them are afraid of Mira. She's a sweetie pie on the outside but on the inside, a demon resides. All of them hide themselves behind a shelf and kept quiet when Mira opened the door to reveal a shocked Lucy.
"Mira!" she said. "What are you doing here?"
"Lucy! Uhm, well, I was getting some cleaning materials. What about you? What are you doing here?" Mira asked sweetly.
"Well, I heard someone says that there's sound coming from the stock room so I thought I'd check it out," Lucy said and looked around. She spotted something at the corner of the room and eyed it suspiciously. Mira followed Lucy's gaze and her eyes widen. Thinking fast she took a broom and used it to hit something on the floor, just in front of Lucy who was walking towards the corner of the room. Lucy flinched at the sudden action. "Wh-what are you doing Mira?" she asked.
"Cockroach…" she simply said and Lucy backed away immediately.
"D-d-d-did you hit it?" she asked, obviously frightened. Mira raised the broom and shook her head. "No, it might be hiding at some corners of the room," she said and she saw Lucy flinched again. She mentally smirked.
"W-well, I guess I should be going now. I guess the rumours about the sound coming from here aren't true. S-see you!" Lucy said and quickly ran out of the room.
Mira sighed in relief. Once Lucy was out of sight, she told everyone her plan.
"We need to find another place to practice." Mira said when the boys came out of their hiding place.
"My place is available," Loke offered and smiled. Mira nodded and instructed them to come to school tonight for them to transfer their 'things' to the Stellar's.
..ooOoo..
A week had passed and still, Lucy doesn't have any idea why she doesn't see any of boys. She understands Natsu's, Loke's and Gray's condition, they were training to be a leader under Mira but the suspicious thing was where Jellal and Seigrain are. She always went to check on them in their classroom but they're already gone by the time she got there. What are they doing? She thought. She wanted to ask Jellal about the 'thing' with Erza but, he's nowhere to be found. She even tried calling him but when he answered her calls it's either his busy or tired.
"Lu-chan!" Lucy turned and smiled at her friend.
"Levy! Lisanna! Juvia!" she greeted back.
"Are you ready for the trip?" Levy asked while skipping in excitement. Lucy nodded and giggled at her friends' attitude.
"We should be here at Sunday night. Erza and Mira are organizing which classes are merging to ride the bus together. They are also requesting other students who are capable of taking charge of students in the bus." Lisanna said.
"Juvia heard Ultear-senpai was chosen." Juvia said and smiled at Lucy.
"Waaaah~! Really?" Lucy said in glee. "I'm so excited! Can't wait until Sunday!" she squealed along with the girls.
…
Inside the principal's office…
"Amanda Gonzales, you're saying you want to enrol here?" Principal Makarov asked while eyeing a brown eyed, blonde haired girl in front of him. The girl smiled and nodded.
"I just arrived here from America and I want to start studying as soon as I got here." She said and smiled sweetly. She looked exactly like Lucy…I smell something fishy… he thought, suspiciously. But she looked sweet. I guess she won't do anything? He smiled at her.
"I'm sorry but classes will resume next week," Principal Makarov said. Her eyes widen.
"WHAT! WHY?" she hollered. Makarov was taken aback by the sudden yell. I take back what I just said. She's not sweet at all.Makarov thought. Alice, who's been with Amanda when the latter got to school, patted Amanda's shoulder to calm her down before looking apologetically at the stunned principal.
"I'm sorry, Master. Amanda's just…shocked. She's been so eager to go to school so forgive her sudden outburst." Alice said and bowed.
Amanda glared at Alice and the latter flinched at the intense stare she's receiving.
"We'll return next next week, Master!" Alice said and dragged Amanda behind the school.
"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Amanda asked angrily.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I too focused on eyeing Gray and Lucy that I forgot to inform you about the trip!" Alice explained. Amanda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Is it possible for me to come?" Amanda asked.
"I'm sorry, but the council said that the camp is reserved only for the students of Fairytail. We have a camping trip you see," Alice answered.
"Fine. But during the trip, don't get your eyes off them, you hear?" Amanda snapped. "H-HAI!" Alice said and sighed when Amanda turned to leave.
"W-wait!" she stopped her.
"What?" Amanda asked as she kept walking. Alice ran towards her before looking at her, confused.
"Why did you dye your hair? And why did you put contacts on?" Alice asked. Amanda smirked that sent shivers through Alice's spine.
"Can't you tell just by looking?" she said. Alice's looked at her carefully until her eyes widen.
"You. You looked like–"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HER NAME!" Amanda cut Alice off before continuing "I'm gonna take Gray. And this is the only way I can think of for me to be able to do that. To look like the girl he love, the one who he doesn't even know the name, and the one that he will know as Amanda Gonzales, his childhood love." Amanda said and smirked before leaving the horrified Alice behind.
"This is so messed up…" she said as she followed her 'friend'.
..ooOoo..
Haha, so how was it? Good? Bad? Like it? Hate it? TELL ME ABOUT IT! ^_^
Ja'ne
