Warnings: It's on the first chapter.
Author's Section: Well look who's here? I'm back! Sorry for the long wait guys. I'm just having a trouble thinking if I should continue or not. Well looks like I'm going to continue. Yay! Thanks to all of your reviews! It really showed me that a lot of people appreciate and enjoy reading this story so I'm going to continue writing. But since you all wanted me to continue, you have to deal with all the crazy stuffs I'm going to throw in here. What crazy stuffs I'm talking about? Read the story so you'll find out. BTW! I have a very important question on the Author's Section (2) at the bottom page. Share me your thoughts about it after you finished reading this chappie. Now, for all the people who reviewed, Reviewer's Section!
Reviewer's Section:
- darkhuntressxir- Here's the 4th chapter for you. Hope this made you smile.
-O.o. Belt.O.o.O- *runs behind Gray* easy there Flame-belt! As you can see I've updated and I'm going to continue so no need to go all so scary. Don't worry; you'll see those parts when it happens. Enjoy reading!
- FairyWhereAreYouGoing- How can I say no to you? Well here's the more you wanted. Enjoy!
-TheSlayerGirl- here's the fourth chapter for you! Thanks for the three-letter word of a review!LOL
-Guest- Yes I'll do that. Though you'll have to wait until 70 chapters before you see them together. Haha just kidding! Here's the fourth out of seventy! XD
- theabridgedkuriboh- I think I like sweet and sad stories at the same time. Well let's see if this story will either end sweet or sad. Thanks for always reviewing!
-TheRealmsOfDream- oh! I'm glad you love this story! Chapter 4 here!
-x0xalexis8- thanks for reviewing! I'll keep going, don't worry.
Special Thanks to:
midnight1234, Wizardslover and sakura . kinomoto . 520 for following and putting me and this story in your favorite list. Thank you very much! To all the people out there appreciating this story by taking time to read thank you too.
Disclaimer: I'm the Dark Sorcerer of Fire, but I still don't own it.
Ice Roses
Chapter 4: Questions and Answers
By: Johan Lee
Days went by surprisingly quick, Natsu found himself in one of the most embarrassing conversation of his life. He was at the guild, and was seated with Lucy and Loki in one of their usual hangout spot which was a table on the farthest side of the bar. Loki had his arms crossed over his chest while Lucy was staring at him with a teasing look on her face.
"So Natsu," she began as she twiddled her fingers on the straw of her choco-strawberry smoothie. "Any guesses of who this secret admirer of yours could possibly be?"
Natsu gave her a dark look. "I told you I don't have a fucking clue."
Apparently, Lucy discovered the story of him having a secret admirer when she decided to pay him an unexpected visit and found him on his living room scrutinizing his collections of ice roses that was now securely placed in a flower vase. And Lucy being a pestering bitch who won't leave you alone unless you feed her curiosity, Natsu had no choice but to tell her the story of his secret admirer that always brought him an ice rose every morning. Guess how many hours she giggled and squealed on his floor, about 7 hours maybe?
Lucy rolled her eyes as she took a delicate sip on her smoothie. "Yeah right, well what can we expect from that dumb brain of yours?"
Natsu glared at her, looking very offended. "You're so mean Lucy."
She shrugged her shoulders and continued to drink her dessert.
Natsu sighed as he leaned his head on the palm of his hand with his elbow resting on the table for support. What did Lucy want him to do? Stayed up all night and wait till his secret admirer appear on his window and catch him? Yeah. As if he hadn't tried that several times. It didn't work obviously; he even ended up falling asleep in a very awkward position.
He turned to Lucy who had just finished off her drink. "You really can't expect me to know the identity of this person, Lucy. I never got the chance to see his face, so I don't know what he looks like."
Lucy and Loki turned to him with surprise look on their faces.
"His?!"
"He?!"
Few of their guild mates looked over at their direction. Loki's mouth was hanging open, Lucy wore the filthiest smirk on her face, and Natsu became a blushing wreck.
"I-It's not what you think it means! I-I just mistakenly use the wrong word!"
"Wrong words, huh? It doesn't sound wrong to me at all. The words seemed to roll down your tongue quite naturally."
"S-Shut up!"
"So~" Lucy drawled, the annoying smirk was still plastered on her lips. "You think it was a 'he'?"
Natsu looked away, a blush tainting his cheeks. "N-No, Not r-really…" he stammered as he rubbed the side of his face with his index finger.
Damn! This is so embarrassing! Why can't just Lucy leave him alone!
He noticed Loki was still staring at him through his azure sunglasses. But what was intriguing was the small dust of pink adoring the Lion spirit's cheeks.
Loki seemed to notice his stare and quickly looked away, the blush on his face darkened slightly.
"Natsu!" Lucy hit his arm.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"That's for ignoring me, you dumbass! Now what I'm trying to say is, if you think it was a guy then it's a good start."
Natsu furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion. "A good start? For what?"
"For solving the mystery of who your secret admirer really is."
A spark of interest appeared in Natsu's eyes, "Really?"
Lucy grinned, moving closer to him. "Yeah!" I actually have someone in mind already."
"You mean you'd already figured out who it is?"
"Yeah, you can say that. Well, just looking at the ice rose gave me an idea of who it is. And if you think that it's a guy then I already have a good guess of who it could possibly be."
Natsu stared up and thought for a moment. After a while of thinking, he pouted.
"This is not fair! How come you figured it out but I don't. No one comes in my mind. It's a blank face!"
He crossed his arms and look away like sulking twelve-year old. Lucy rolled her eyes and Loki had weird helpless look on his flushed face.
"Stop sulking, I can just tell you if you asked me, idiot."
Natsu looked at her. "Who is it then? Tell me Lucy."
The smirk was back on her face. "Actually, I can't just tell you, I can as well show him to you." She brought a delicate finger and pointed at a certain table on the opposite side of the guild.
Loki and Natsu turned to the direction Lucy was pointing. Loki suddenly had a scowl on his face and Natsu; well Natsu had a priceless look on his face with his eyes almost popped out of its socket. And don't forget about his mouth doing a fish jaw motion.
Natsu could feel his face heating up as he stared at the half-naked ice mage occupying the table across from them. He turned his head back to Lucy and he could see the annoying smirk on her face grew wider.
"Y-Yo-u mean G-Gray?!"
"The one and only."
"N-no way, Lucy! That's way too impossible! That freakin' ice bastard is so far away from my ice rose admirer! Your idea is so ridiculous!"
"Don't give me that you slow-brain fire idiot! I only said it was a guess! Though I'm still certain it was him."
"But why him?"
Lucy stared at him and rolled her eyes. "You really are slow Natsu."
"Don't go insulting me all of the sudden! Just tell me why you think it's him!"
"Fine, I'll tell you."
She crossed her arms over the table and put a serious face. "Gray is a guy right?"
"Yeah, what made you think he's not?"
She smacked him on the head. "Just answer it with either Yes or No, or right or wrong, you moron!"
"Aye."
"That too Happy II. Okay next question. Gray is an ice mage right?"
"Right."
"Next question: The ice rose was made up of ice right?"
"That's why it is called an ice rose."
Lucy glared.
"Right."
"Last question: Do you think it's possible for Gray to make an ice rose using his Ice-make Magic?"
"Oh, I guess he can. Gray is an ice mage so if he wanted to do an ice rose then he….."
Natsu never got the chance to finish his sentence as the meaning of his own words finally clicked in his mind.
"You finally figure it out?"
Years seemed to pass by before Natsu gave a meek nod, a dust of pink coloring his tan cheeks. He gazed at the ice mage across the bar. As usual, Gray wore nothing but his black boxers. He'd seen Gray like this a million times before, but he felt a different tug in his heart this time. Gray is so handsome, and he really looked so, tempting. Natsu shook his head as he felt his flushed face turn even darker. And as if the raven haired male sensed that he was being stared at, Gray looked their way. Navy blue eyes met forest green ones, and electricity rushed through Natsu's body.
Gray sent them a smirk, a very hot one and Natsu embarrassedly looked away.
Putting a hand on his chest, Natsu could feel his heart beating unnaturally fast against his ribcage. Boy, why was he feeling like this?
"That's love Natsu!" Lucy squealed on his side like a crazy fangirl.
Everyone near them turned with curious faces, but Natsu was quick to send them away with a death glare. Mira Jane walked passed their table for what seemed like the hundred times this day. What the hell! Was she eavesdropping on them the whole time!
Loki though has a deep frown on his face, looking annoyed at something Natsu had no idea of what about.
"I still have doubts that Gray is the one behind this entire secret admirer thing."
Everyone on the table turned to Loki, who for the first in ages voiced out his opinion about the subject. Even Mira Jane who'd finally stopped eavesdropping (because she's now listening to them so openly, much to Natsu's dismay) looked at the Lion spirit and made herself a seat beside Natsu.
"What do you mean you have doubts Loki? Are you saying that my theory is not accurate?" Lucy asked with a sharp look.
"No, Not at all my dear Lucy." He sweetly replied. Obviously, he wasn't looking forward to deal with the blonde's PMS-ing mode that happened mostly when he disagrees with her idea.
"What do you mean then, Loki?" Mira Jane asked.
Loki pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose and turned to Lucy.
"With the simple facts you've pointed out earlier that can be linked to an ice mage, you're maybe right that it could be Gray. He's actually in the highest list of possibilities because he's close to Natsu."
Everyone nodded at this except Natsu who was too embarrassed to even acknowledge what was being said.
"But," Loki continued. "We can't just go and conclude that it's really Gray, he's not the only ice mage here in Fiore."
"Loki is right." Mira Jane agreed. "Remember, Lyon Bastia of Lamia Scale is an ice mage too. And Ultear of Crime Sorcière, although she uses Time Arc Magic, she's still the daughter of Ul and the blood of an Ice-make Mage runs through her veins."
"So Gray is not our only prime suspect?" Natsu asked.
Everyone sweat dropped at the word 'suspect'. What is this, a crime-solving story? No one said anything about it though.
"You have a point Loki, though I still vote that it's Gray." Lucy insisted.
"I'm with you Lucy!" Mira Jane smiled.
Natsu glared at the two girls, while Loki resumed to his silent mode.
"I hope it was just some ugly amateurish ice wizard." Loki muttered to himself. "If it's Gray then it would be harder for me to win him over. And if you're going to add Lyon Bastia then things will turn even more complicated! If ever, those two would be a tough rivalry. Damn! Why do Natsu have to be so attractive?"
Do Celestial Spirits always tend to talk to themselves like this?"
Loki turned to Natsu who had an eyebrow raised at him.
"What?"
"I heard you talking to yourself. Do you always do that?"
"No, not really. Wait! You heard what I'm saying?!"
Natsu smirked. "Kinda, you're saying something about 'rivalry' and 'someone being so attractive'."
Loki gulped. This is not good. He forgot Natsu has a good sense of hearing. Crap!
"A-And? What else did you hear?"
Natsu shrugged. "I didn't hear much of it. You know I'm no eavesdropper." He said, sending Mira Jane a dirty look who just gave an innocent smile which wasn't innocent at all.
Loki chuckled nervously. "Y-Yeah. I know that Natsu."
Pwew! That was close.
Natsu gave him a smile, which made his heart go all flattery in his chest. Damn he's so cute!
"So, who's this someone attractive you're talking about?"
"Err…just a girl I met yesterday…haha..yeah that's just it." He scratch the side of his chin as Natsu gave him a look.
"Man, you're such a flirt."
"Hey, where did I hear that before?"
They both shared a laugh.
Natsu felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and Gray came to his view standing beside him. He froze.
"Oi flame-brain! Lucy told me there's something you wanted to ask me about. What is it?"
Natsu had a horrified look on his face. "What? Lucy?" he turned to the seat next to him and found nothing but air. Mira Jane had somehow vanished in her seat too. What the hell? When did those two disappeared?
"Well?"
He turned his gaze back to Gray who was staring down at him impatiently.
"..."
To be continued…
Author's Section: I do hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. It's quite longer than the previous. Now for the very important question:
Aside from Natsu talking to Gray about the Ice Rose, what other stuffs do you think might happen in the later chapters? You have 3 clues.
Loki
Lyon
Quadrangle
Whatever comes to your mind with these clues I would love to hear them. Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave me your thoughts! Bye for now!
-Dark Sorcerer of Fire-