Everyone in Fairy Tail turned as the door opened to reveal a white-haired wizard being trailed by a woman with flowing, blindingly fuchsia hair. She was almost being dragged behind him, holding his arm in a death grip and stammering something about how she really thought it would be better if-

"Juvia! We're going on a date." The blue-haired woman in question looked up from where she was peeking out at Gray from behind a column. From her mouth came an almost-coherent squeak that sounded something like 'what?' He stalked over to her and grabbed her hand. "You heard me, let's go." The smirk on his face proved to be just too much for Gray.

"Oi! You can't just walk in here and hand out orders. In case you hadn't noticed, Juvia's not interested. Baka." The color rose in Juvia's cheeks as Gray stood up for her. Juvia knew it! Gray really does care; he wants Juvia for his own! (Keeping in mind, of course, that this is not really the thought going through Gray's mind.)

Lyon's smirk grew, "Oh really? What, do you think she'd prefer you? She's going to realize you don't even want her and then she's going to hate you for stringing her along. And then she will happily go on a date with me. After all, I am the better wizard."

Juvia's eyes widened and opened her mouth, incensed and ready to yell that no one was better than Gray-sama. But he cut in before she could jump to his defense. "Stringing her along? Just maybe I do want her, you slanty-eyed freak. And there is no way she is ever going on a date with you!" He took Juvia's hand and pulled her away from Lyon.

At this point Juvia turned beet red and almost fainted. "Gray w-w-wants Juvia? He really means that he, and Juvia, should be… together?" Her eyes, for anyone who cared to look, were wide and her face had paled considerably, the blood leaving it as quickly as it had come. She was very seriously in risk of shock.

Not taking his eyes off Lyon, Gray responded tersely, "Yeah."

Lyon scoffed. "Yeah right, Gray. She's mine." By this point tears were streaming down Chelia's face and she turned to Juvia.

"You! It is you who is trying to steal Lyon-sama away from me! How could you have such terrible love?!" She lunged for Juvia and Lyon grabbed her arm before stalking out, giving her something of a shake to keep her from her objective. He threw a casual statement over his shoulder as he exited the guild hall.

"I'll be back, Fullbuster, and Juvia will be leaving with me." He dragged Chelia out, which girl was shooting murderous daggers from eyes still full of tears.

By now Natsu could no longer contain his laughter and it burst out in full. "Gray that was great! You really had me going there, I thought you were serious! Did you see the look on his face?" Gray shot Natsu a look.

"Shut up! I was serious, you dumb flame-brained tickle-me-pink crayon!" Natsu burst upward from his seat, fists balled and beginning to sprout flames.

"Well at least I'm not a wishy-washy ice stripper with a psychotic girlfriend!"

"You shut up!" The words ended there as the argument dissolved into an all-out magical fist-fight, Gray somehow managing to lose top and pants in the process while Juvia actually fainted in joy. After all, Gray had said that he was in love with her! (well, not really, but that's how she heard it.)

Once their fight ended in its normal draw, he sat down next to the now-recovered Juvia. She looked shyly over at him. "G-Gray-sama?" Glancing at her with a quirked eyebrow, Gray then leaned back, his eyes closed.

"Hmmm?" Juvia bit her lip before mustering the courage to go on. She had dreamed of this day, when Gray-sama would profess his love for Juvia! But she had never thought that he would fight over Juvia-chan, it was more than she had hoped for! (Despite the fact that the fight with Natsu probably would have occurred despite Juvia's presence, but never mind that…)

"D-does this mean Gray-sama would like to go on a date with Juvia?" He looked over at her bashfully down-turned face and sighed. She was kind of cute, in a stalker-ish sort of way, and he realized that somehow in all of her insisting they were perfect for each other some part of him had begun to believe her. Or, rather, almost believe her.

"Sure, Juvia. We'll go to dinner tonight, okay? Magnolia Grill." The smile on Juvia's face was radiant and sweet, a simple and blissful happiness radiating and making her face incredibly lovely. Wait, where did that come from? Whatever.

"Okay, Gray. I will see you then." Juvia hopped off the chair and walked out of Fairy Tail, biting her lower lip softly and smiling gently to herself, her hands clasped behind her back. Since when did Juvia act so normal? And since when did she start talking in first-person? Gray shook his head. This night could go really badly, but at least that part of him would shut up and maybe if it did go badly she'd stop chasing after him. You could only hope.

He arrived at Magnolia Grill a little before seven—it was bad form to be late, even if his date was Juvia. Or, at least he thought it was bad form. He'd not really been on a date before: he had spent most of his life just focusing on magic and Fairy Tail. Gray had actually taken the time to pay attention to his clothes, though, rare since they normally came off at some point. He was in his normal dark olive jeans and white button-up shirt, but he'd bothered to put on a black jacket and tie over the top of it all. He fidgeted a bit as he waited, turning to face the restaurant then back toward the street.

That was when Juvia arrived, looking resplendent in a gauzy pale blue dress that reached to her knees, patterned with light lavender flowers. Her shoulder-length, flipped-out hair was curled slightly at the ends and pinned half up with a hairpiece that looked like a sprig of violets.

He was stunned for a moment before recovering his wits. "You—you look lovely, Juvia. Shall we go in?" Juvia smiled brilliantly, though a bit shyly, and nodded. Gray hadn't ever thought that she could be, well, reserved. He opened the door and led her into the restaurant and let the waiter escort them to their table. Gray was careful to pull out the chair for her and she murmured a thank you. It was a little odd, her acting so different from usual, and he couldn't keep himself from eyeing her a little reservedly as he sat down.

Juvia blushed and glanced down shyly. "Why are you looking at me that way, Gray-sama?" She fiddled with the napkin in her lap, twisting it between her fingers. She had hoped for a very long time that this would happen, and now that it was it just seemed so… natural. She wasn't as nervous as she thought she would be.

Juvia realized that in the time she had been at Fairy Tail she had learned what it meant to have friends, to have a nakama, and that she didn't always have to be alone. It was obvious, now, that Gray had never had feelings for the other women in Fairy Tail and that they liked it that way. At first, she had been an outsider who wanted to make her way in their world and who wanted Gray to value her as much (more) than the other women in the guild. She'd come in as a stranger, unsure of how he felt about anyone and desperate that maybe, just maybe, he could learn to love her as she cared for him. After all, he was the most amazing man she had ever met.

But now, she knew that it wasn't just about how Gray felt for her. Even if this went wrong, she still had a nakama and friends, people who cared for her. That was new for Juvia—people had always ridiculed her and pushed her away, but now… Now she could be herself and not worry about the future, knowing that she would always have people she could turn to. However, she still really wanted this to work with Gray.

He smiled wryly and laughed a little. "You are just acting a little different, is all. Less clingy, I suppose." Juvia smiled gently down at her lap and shrugged.

"I guess—I guess I am just less afraid, now. After all, you agreed to at least give me a chance," Juvia looked up at him and smiled sweetly, "That is enough." Gray gave her a happily quizzical look before grinning.

"So what would you like to eat?" She smiled and they ordered, talking about Fairy Tail and different jobs they had been on, and the people they had met, and the magic they themselves used as well as the varying types they had encountered. It was a pleasant evening and as it went on Gray found himself feeling more and more comfortable around Juvia, to the point that he no longer felt weird having her around. She was acting more normal now, and now that he had the chance (without having to run from her) he found that she was a really interesting person.

He walked her home that night, and as they stopped in front of her apartment he smiled at her. "I had a really wonderful time tonight, Juvia." She smiled happily up at him.

"I did, too. Thank you for the date Gray-sama!" She gave a very swift and small bow, and he chuckled a little.

"Thank you for a wonderful time. Would you like to go out again, sometime this week?" Juvia's eyes widened and Gray had to contain another chuckle.

"I—I would love to, Gray-sama." She smiled at him again before turning to go into her building, biting her lip softly.

Once upstairs, Juvia looked out the window as Gray walked off, his hands in his pockets, whistling, and somehow both shirt- and jacket-less. He still managed to keep the tie on, though. Juvia giggled to herself before going to bed.

Over the next month and a half they went on a number of dates, and they became pretty close. Pretty much everyone at Fairy Tail noticed that Juvia was acting differently, calmer and a little less crazy. Even Natsu noticed the difference, when getting Natsu to notice the sun crashing to earth would be a feat. Juvia was becoming closer to the other women at Fairy Tail, also, now that she was no longer worried about their relationship with Gray.

The two of them were talking and laughing about some sort of inside joke when Lyon burst into the guild again. Gray casually wrapped his arm around Juvia's shoulders as Lyon walked over to her, Chelia trailing him yet again. "Well, Juvia, ready for that date?" Gray raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something, a frown line furrowing between his brows, but Juvia spoke up first.

"No, thank you, Lyon. In case you had not noticed, I am not available at the moment. Please go." Gray smirked up at Lyon, and Lyon clenched his jaw, narrowing his eyes. He balled his fist and leaned down to whisper in Juvia's ear.

"Oh, you will come with me. When you realize he isn't worth your time." He looked at Gray and smirked back. "You just wait, Fullbuster. When you are least expecting it I will pull her out from under that possessive arm of yours and you will never see her again." Chelia tugged on his sleeve a little weakly.

"Please Lyon, can't we just go?" She pouted, and he ignored her but still turned and walked out. Upon reaching outside he shook her off his arm and turned to Chelia.

"Get this through your head. I am in love with Juvia. She is a water mage, I'm an ice mage. We are perfect for each other and once she realizes that then we will be together. Stop making a fool of yourself." Lyon walked away. He probably hadn't meant everything he had said, but he was angry and lashing out at Chelia was the quickest balm on hand. Tears welled up in her eyes as she collapsed just under one of Fairy Tail's windows, unbeknownst to its members.

Meanwhile, inside Fairy Tail Gray had stood up and begun pacing, practically yelling his thoughts in frustration. "I can't believe him! He can't just come in here and say things like that, not to Fairy Tail members and not about you!" He looked at Juvia, who was still a little stunned. Lyon never made much sense to her. Gray growled a little and went back to pacing. "What are we going to do? I'm not going to let him kidnap you…" He kept pacing and muttering for a minute more before snapping his fingers and shouting, "I've got it!" Juvia jumped a little at the sudden loudness of his voice.

"You have got what, Gray-sama?" She gave a confused look as he turned to her, a huge grin on his face.

"We will go to the East Forest and hide out! He won't be able to find us in there; the dolt has no direction sense!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the guild hall, saying something about packing and camping gear… Juvia wasn't entirely sure that what he had said about Lyon was true, but she wasn't about to argue with Gray when it came to a potential camping trip of undetermined length.

The rest of their guild just looked at each other, blinking in stunned silence before bursting out in laughter. Natsu was rolling on the floor. "I-I have got… got to see th-that-" before choking on his words as he lost all semblance of control. They had never really expected to see the day when Gray would be dragging Juvia off somewhere for the two of them to be alone. Lucy was pursing her lips. She felt like this was somehow reminding her of a story… She jumped as Loke popped in next to her. "Hey, Lucy." He grinned and tipped his glasses down onto the tip of his nose.

"Loke! What are you doing here? And don't scare me like that." He grinned and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Awww, come on Luce. I'll hold you and keep you safe, if it'll make you feel better…" She jumped up, her eyes wide. Loke chuckled softly as the heat rose in her face.

"N-no, that's fine, Loke." She took a moment to calm down before looking at him again. "What are you doing here, anyway?" Loke stretched and leaned back against the bar, crossing his arms and giving a sigh.

"You realize that's going to go pretty wrong, right? I think someone should help it along a little." Lucy was confused for a moment. What did he—

"Loke! I am not getting involved. This is their business." Lucy had been on the receiving end of Juvia's protectiveness—ahem jealousy—over Gray enough times to be entirely reluctant to get involved when it came to the two of them. Loke shrugged and pushed his glasses back up onto his nose before standing and leaning in to murmur into Lucy's ear.

"Suit yourself; I guess I'll just have to do something, then." He smirked again. "By the way, you look particularly lovely today. I like your hair loose like this" He smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear as he spoke, then Loke walked out of the guild hall, hands in his pockets and whistling as Lucy blushed fiercely red.

Meanwhile, in the East Forest…

"Erza! You came." Erza turned to see a tall blue-haired man with an elaborate tattoo on the right side of his face leaning against a tree, uncrossing his arms and walking over to her.

"Jellal. What is going on? Why are you here? How did you even get here—" He held up a hand to cut her off and shook his head.

"That's not really important. I need some help with something, nothing bad I promise." Erza raised an eyebrow but let the first matter drop.

"What do you need, Jellal?" He shoved his hands into his back pockets and rocked forward and back again on his feet, a wry smile on his face. Jellal normally wasn't this reticent to ask a favor and it made her even more suspicious.

"I need Wendy's help." He flinched slightly as her eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth in anger.

"Are you kidding me?! No! Haven't you messed with the poor girl enough?" He tried to get her to lower her voice as her yelling disturbed a few nearby flocks of birds. Like ten. Erza took a deep breath and calmed her voice, but the look she gave him was still deadly. "No, Jellal. Find some other way to do whatever it is you are trying to do." He clenched his jaw.

"There is no other way, Erza. Wendy is the only person who—" She cut him off.

"No." She turned to go before looking back over her shoulder. "It's good to see you're doing well, Jellal." Erza walked out of the clearing and Jellal punched a tree in frustration. That went even worse than he'd expected.

"Well, that went splendidly, if you ask me." Jellal turned to see Loke smiling mischievously at him, his arms crossed. Jellal rolled his eyes and frowned at the celestial spirit.

"Oh, really? Well if it went so wonderfully then I guess you can leave. Unless you have a way to fix it." Loke grinned devilishly and walked forward, speaking as he passed Jellal.

"Maybe I do." Jellal turned and gave a 'well?' "I need your help with a little something and, in return, I'll distract Erza for you long enough to get Wendy's help with your little project. Deal?"

Jellal's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Help with what, exactly?" The look on Loke's face was chilling, to say the least. The spirit seemed to have something up his sleeve that could be downright nasty if he wasn't careful.

"I need you to distract Porlyusica while I get a potion from her house." Jellal blanched in pure horror.

"You are kidding, right? Stealing something from her is no laughing matter! And what exactly do you need so badly that you can't find another way?" Loke laughed happily. It was frightening on so many levels.

"It is a… love potion, of sorts. More like an infatuation potion, actually. Temporary effects but rather potent." He shrugged. "What I need it for is none of your concern. However, it is also what I will use to distract Erza as promised. Having her fascinated with a flower or a rock for a few hours would suffice, correct?" Jellal still looked at him suspiciously, but it did seem like it could work if it truly did what Loke said… Also, it would be kind of funny. What could the spirit be using it fo—Oh.

"You aren't planning on using it on Lucy, are you? Cause she would probably kill you after its effects wore off." (Yes, he has been keeping tabs on the guild and its members. He knows surprisingly much, no?) Loke laughed full-heartedly.

"She most certainly would, and the temporary benefits would set me back much too far. In other words, no; I won't be using it on Lucy. It is actually to help some of the other people from the guild that I intend to use it, and that is all you need to know." Jellal narrowed his eyes. This seemed like a really, really bad idea. It was Porlyusica, after all. On the other hand he really did need Wendy's help… The bunny was hurt! It had stared up at him with those eyes and he just couldn't keep walking… And there was no way he was telling Erza that he needed Wendy to use such draining magic on a bunny.

"Fine. But you have to bring Wendy here, I can't go get her. I can't let people see me, even in a Mystogan disguise: your guildmates would still know something was up. Deal?" Loke grinned and nodded, shaking Jellal's outstretched hand.

"Deal. Now let's go!" They walked toward Porlyusica's home in the woods, discussing their distraction and snatch plans on the way.

Meanwhile, Back in Magnolia…

"Luuuuucyyy, why are we doing this in the summer? Halloween isn't for another like… forever…" She turned back to Natsu with yet another exasperated look. He'd been complaining for the past twenty minutes. They had only been shopping for ten. He and Happy were dragging their feet. She knew, though, that if she just got him to go into the costume shop he would find some way to entertain himself.

"Because if we wait till Halloween actually comes around, all the good costumes will be gone! And all that will be left will be things like, well, that." She pointed at a rather skimpy devil's outfit depicted in the store's window.

Natsu looked at it with big eyes. "I like that, though. What's wrong with that?" She shot daggers at him and he flinched a little bit.

"I do have some class, you know." Happy piped up in his most happy and cheerful tone.

"You do, Lucy? But what about that one—" She turned around and glared Happy into silence. "—never mind…"

Lucy flounced into the costume shop, the two partners trailing reluctantly behind her. She started thumbing through some cute pieces along the right hand side of the store while Natsu distracted himself in the animal costume section. About twenty minutes later she was talking to the rather cute young man working the sales counter about one moderately revealing nurse costume when she heard Natsu let out a yell of frustration. Lucy turned around to see him with a donkey's head stuck on his own. Growling in frustration she spent the next hour and a half trying to get it off, with the sales boy's help, to no avail.

"Fine! We'll just buy it and get it off later. Since it obviously isn't going to come off without drastic measures." She rolled her eyes and turned to the young man to ask how much it was when Natsu let out a half squeak, half growl.

"Oi! What sort of drastic measures. I don't want you messing up my face, Luce." She glared at him, which he of course didn't exactly see. Turning back to the young man he coughed and gave her an apologetic look.

"That's actually a hand-made, one-of-a-kind piece, so it's rather expensive…" Lucy closed her eyes for a moment.

"How much?" He scuffed his foot on the floor.

"30,000 jewel." Lucy looked ready to kill Natsu. Lucy was ready to kill Natsu. Glaring at him, it was his turn to scuff his foot on the ground.

"Let me guess. You didn't bring any money. And even more, you don't have any money, do you?" Happy smiled brightly at her.

"Nope, Lucy! We're broke. But we'll pay you back, later!" Lucy slapped her forehead with her palm and turned back to the boy. She shelled out the cash, muttering about how they wouldn't pay her back, they never paid her back, and how that money was the rest of her month's rent due in three days. "Oh, please don't be upset, Lucy! Natsu didn't mean to get it stuck. And he does look kind of funny."

Lucy looked over at Natsu. "Well, it is fitting. He is sort of an—" Natsu cut her off as they walked out of the store, hurt in his voice. The sales boy looked back and forth between the pair and then down at the money in his hand. He shook his head and went back to work.

Meanwhile, in Lamia Scale…

Lyon was pacing angrily. How was he to get Juvia away from Grey? He had to figure out some way to prove to her that he was the better option… Chelia came up to him and he rounded on her. "What? I'm busy." She looked down and bit her lip before speaking softly.

"Maybe, Lyon, you should just forget about Juvia… She seems very interested in Grey." Lyon glared down at her.

If she could just make him realize that there was no way Juvia was going to leave Grey, that they had gone off together, maybe he would look at her again…

"Well, she can't be that interested. It's only been a few weeks, and I am going to find a way to convince her of my feelings." This is my only chance. Oh, please Lyon, listen to what I have to say…

"They are gone, and I don't think Juvia plans to come back. They went to hide from you; I think you should just let her go Lyon…" The grip on her arm was painfully vice-like and his voice was angrily low.

"Where. Did. They. Go." Chelia's eyes were wide at the anger in Lyon's face.

"They-they went to the East Forest, Lyon-sama, but—" She cut off as Lyon stormed out of the guild. He was furious, mostly because Grey pulled Juvia out from under him. The jerk thought he could get, and get away with, whatever he wanted. But it wasn't true. This time Lyon was going to have what was his, what he wanted.

Chelia ran after him. She wasn't going to let Lyon leave her behind and she was going to get him back for herself.

At Lucy's home in Magnolia…

"Heyyyy Lucy." She jumped again, her face turning red from anger and embarrassment. This time she had been about to change after a shower.

"LOKE! Stop that!" He grinned broadly at her. Sighing exasperatedly and wrapping the bathrobe more tightly around herself she decided to just get the interview over with. "What do you want now?" He scuffed his foot on the floor and played the sheepish boy before answering.

"I need your help with something." He held up a hand as she began to utter the same protest from before, refusing to get involved in his game with Grey, Juvia, Lyon, and Chelia. "No, not that. Jellal needs some help with Erza…" He grinned inwardly. He knew that would work, and the added benefit is that it was true. So she at least couldn't get angry at him for lying. Although she was rather cute when she lost her temper, the way she stamped her foot was particularly endearing….

Lucy froze. She knew Loke likely wasn't telling her the whole story. On the other hand, Erza and Jellal were just so perfect together that it frustrated her every time something got in the way- and it always did… "Fine, what do you need?"

"Come with me, he'll explain. I'm not exactly sure what he needs you to do." Lucy followed him out into the East Forest. She had left Natsu with the donkey's head mask stuck on his own and had told him rather angrily that he could just keep it that way for a few days. It served him right.