Disclaimer: I don't own fairy tail or any of it's characters.
Lucy awoke to the sun shining in her face. She opened her eyes and thought how nice curtains would be on the large window next to Natsu's bed. When he woke, she would have to see if Natsu would let her get some. He lay sprawled out in a way that his body nearly took up the entire queen sized bed. There was a streak of green paint on his shoulder that they had missed during their shower the night before. Really they had been pretty distracted during their shower; there probably was still a lot of paint on both of them. She bit her lip and thought maybe they needed another shower this morning, just to be sure.
He opened one eye and grinned slyly at her, as if he could sense her dirty thoughts. He reached out and pulled her close to him, "Morning Luce." He kissed her and lazily ran his hands up and down her back, giving a hum of content.
"We need curtains in here," she said, nuzzling into his chest.
Natsu opened one eye and regarded her lazily, then gave her a half grin, "Why? Worried somebody's watching you through the window? I'm pretty sure were the only ones around."
Lucy laughed into his throat then purred, "How am I supposed to spend the day in bed with you when the sun blazing in my eyes?"
"Hmmm, you make a good point," he said, rolling over and squinting at the window. "Oh well, nothing we can do about it now," he threw a pillow over her face so that it covered her eyes and left her mouth open, "there all better!"
"Yes, this solves everything," grumbled Lucy sarcastically.
"It's perfect, no sun in your eyes and all the rest of you is still accessible for torture," he laughed maniacally and began tickling her stomach.
"Natsu!" Lucy tried to remove the pillow but he held it firmly over her eyes.
"No Lucy, don't move the pillow! You might be blinded!" he said in a serious tone, trying to contain his laughter.
Lucy was having trouble speaking, her giggles had become so intense, "Nat . . .Natsu . . .st . . .st . . .stop it!" She attempted to swipe at his hands but was easily thwarted. Natsu climbed over top of her and pinned her arms over her head.
"Lucy," he teased through his teeth, "if you keep fighting me, the pillow is going to come off!"
"I want the pillow off you moron!" Lucy said through grated teeth.
Natsu chuckled, obviously amused at her furious reaction. He leaned over and kissed her just beneath the ear and murmured, "Ah, but Lucy, I was just getting to the good part." He lifted the pillow and smiled down at her.
"You are a real pain in the ass, you know that?" said Lucy, smiling up at him.
"Yea, but you love it," he said, bending over to kiss tenderly on the lips.
Natsu drank his coffee watched Lucy making bacon and eggs at the stove while he sat at the small kitchen table. Man, he loved having her here. Sure, he liked Lucy's place too but there was nothing to do there but watch TV. He wasn't really a man who liked to sit still for very long. He should set her up a desk in the workshop too, then she could write there and keep him company. Natsu felt like he could never tire of spending time with her, having her with him just made things more fun. These days, it was when he was without her that he had trouble focusing.
The house was looking great, Lucy really had a talent for color. Probably if left to his own devices he would have just grabbed whatever was available on the discount rack. Now the large open living and dining room was a calming sage green and the spare room a nice blue-gray. She let him do a burnt orange accent wall in the kitchen, but had vetoed the bright red for the bedroom. Really Natsu had only suggested it to get a rise out of her, he just couldn't help himself. Today they were going to paint his room the pebble color she had picked out. Getting curtains and bedding was a little bit further than he would have taken the decorating, but for more mornings like this one he could let her get some overpriced fabric.
It sucked that tomorrow they would both be back to work. Natsu wished these days with her could last forever. He watched her as she hummed and swayed to the music in her head, flipping an egg in the pan. When she looked up at Natsu and caught him watching her, Lucy smiled sweetly and her cheeks flushed, but she went back to her cooking and humming. He couldn't help but contentedly sigh, he really was a lucky guy.
Mira stood outside the restaurant, waiting for her blind date. She was already regretting this, maybe she wasn't ready to date yet. It had been two weeks now and still no word from Laxus. Last night her longing for him had been painful. Her loneliness had made her so weak that she had typed at least a dozen texts of apology that she luckily still had the strength to delete. She had to maintain her resolve, she couldn't let him win! There was no future with Laxus, he had made it clear. The man wasn't even comfortable coming out as a couple; he certainly would never be comfortable with marriage or children.
A large, muscular, dark man approached her, "Mira?"
She attempted to smile brightly, "Yes! Are you Azuma?" She took a moment to take him in, thinking Cana may have gotten this right. He was at least her type physically, with strong features and a tall, muscular physique. All of this, of course, went out the window the moment he opened his mouth.
"Yes, you are not what I expected," Azuma frowned, "Cana may have exaggerated when describing you."
Mira's face dropped, how rude of him! "Is that so?" she asked barely containing her outrage.
"Yes, but I supposed you might do. Before we go in to the restaurant, I have to ask a few questions. I don't like to start things unless I know for sure the woman is serious," Azuma started. Mira's brows pulled down together, she was going to have to have a long talk with Cana.
Freed pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant Cana had told him Mira would be at.
"What are we doing here?" asked Laxus from the passenger seat. He looked curiously out his window.
"Well you said you wanted to try some new places, I thought we could try getting a drink here," explained Freed.
"Is that Mira? What the hell are you pulling Freed?" Laxus's irritation was apparent by the tone of his voice and the redness in his face. Freed followed the direction of Laxus's stare to see that Mira was, indeed, standing right in front of them, plain as day.
"Laxus, I didn't . . . I don't know why . . ."Freed struggled with how to explain. What was Mira doing outside? Shouldn't they have already started dinner by now?
"Crap, she doesn't look very happy," Laxus threw open the door and pulled himself out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
Freed hurried to follow him thinking at least if Laxus fought the guy it would be outside and not in the middle of the people enjoying dinner. He was already thinking that maybe Cana's plan had been a terrible idea to begin with.
Mira had had it with this creep. Why the hell would he need her medical history anyway? Now he had started asking her about her sexual preferences and her temper was just about hit the boiling point.
"Now, when it comes to the bedroom, how comfortable are you with bondage?" he asked, not an ounce of humor in his tone.
Mira was shocked. She slapped his face as hard as she could, "Enough! I wouldn't have dinner with you if you were the last man on earth!"
To her horror, he turned his face back to her, smiling for the first time since they met, "Yes! You are so strong, now I know you can be serious. This changes everything."
She opened her mouth, ready to lay into him when a voice came from behind her, "I think that Mira has made it clear she is not interested in continuing this conversation with you."
Mira turned to see Laxus, of all people, staring bullets at Azuma. Azuma considered him for a moment then looked down at her again. "Fine, she was a waste of my time anyway."
Laxus watched the man leave without making a sound, completely ignoring the pleading look Mira was giving him. She wanted him to say something, anything, she had missed him so much! He didn't even acknowledge Freed when the man finally managed to run up behind Laxus and tap him on the shoulder. When Azuma had gotten in his car and driven away, Laxus turned heel, not offering so much as a hello and stormed back to Freed's car.
Freed stood there, completely at a loss on how to handle the situation, watching Laxus mouth agape. He turned back to Mira and his eyes softened at her confusion, "Sorry Mira, we shouldn't have come here. I . . . I . . . I'm so sorry."
Mira breathed deeply as she watched him retreat to his car where Laxus sat, staring unabashedly at her with a deep frown on his face. It felt like her heart was going to explode, it beat so fast with rage and longing. They continued to stare at each other as Freed started the car and pulled out of his spot. Laxus was the first to break contact when he turned to say something to Freed, but Mira watched the car for as long as she could before they disappeared out of sight. This had turned into a very frustrating day.
"So are you sure this is the best place for me to buy my new truck?" asked Gray when they pulled into the lot.
"Of course Gray-sama! When I got my Toyota, Bora got Juvia a fantastic deal," said Juvia cheerfully.
Gray narrowed his eyes, "Were you sleeping with him at the time?"
"Gray-sama!" Juvia looked scandalized but the blush of her cheeks told Gray all he needed to know. He frowned and looked out the window, trying to hide his displeasure. He had no right to criticize who or what she did before her time with him, but it still stung all the same. He hated that feeling.
Gray had been taking it slow, not wanting to rush things. He and Juvia still hadn't been intimate to that level yet. There was still a part of him that felt if he gave all he had to this relationship, she would suddenly up and disappear. It was as if he was fighting a constant battle in his heart, he sometimes lost the struggle and pulled back, hurting Juvia's feelings. He knew he had to shake himself out of his dark cloud, he looked at Juvia and she gave him a sunny smile. Thank god for her patience.
He, however, was not patient. Five minutes into meeting him, Gray was ready to punch Bora in the face.
"Juvia, you look so beautiful today, how lucky am I to have you back at my lot," Bora gushed, grabbing Juvia's hands.
"Thank you Bora, Juvia is happy to be here," Juvia smiled.
"So what kind of car are you looking for?" asked Bora
"Oh no Bora, not for Juvia, the car is for Gray-sama," Juvia motioned to Gray.
Bora gave him a tight-lipped smile, "Oh, hey buddy, what are you looking for today. Some kind of hatchback? Maybe a Miata?"
Gray rolled his eyes, this was a terrible idea, "I need a Full-sized pick-up."
Bora looked Gray up and down in distaste and sighed, "Of course," he motioned them to follow, finally letting go of Juvia's hands. "I have a few good options on the other side of the lot, follow me."
The first two trucks he tried to show them were absolute crap. Gray could tell they had obviously been in accidents, and the next few were duds as well, each with it's own issue that Gray couldn't overlook. It took Bora being completely distracted by one of his fellow car dealers with a question for Gray to be able to find the truck he wanted. It was four-wheel-drive, had a good towing capacity, a comfortable looking cab, and low-mileage. The body was in great shape, he couldn't find any rust, and everything looked great under the hood. It was perfect, he would finally be able to get his equipment to a job site without having to rely on one of the guys. When he searched for a price though, he couldn't find it anywhere.
"Are you all ready to look at something else?" asked Bora, returning to them and placing a hand firmly on Juvia's shoulder.
"How much is this one? I don't see a price anywhere," said Gray.
Bora waved him off, "Oh, you don't want that one, it just came in, we haven't had a chance to inspect it fully."
Juvia got a crazy look in her eye, "Is Bora saying Gray-sama can't have the car he wants?"
Bora held up his hands in a defensive posture, smiling nervously, "No, no of course not baby, tell you what, for you guys how about thirty-seven grand."
Gray was about to turn him down, the price wasn't horrible but it wasn't great, he knew he could do better elsewhere. However, Juvia beat him to the punch, "First Gray-sama can't have the truck and now Bora is trying to rip Gray-sama off!" Gray crossed his arms and smiled a little smile deciding he could just let his girlfriend handle this one.
Bora looked terrified as the tiny blue-haired woman stood on tippy toe to look at him eye to eye with her tiny fists clenched. "Look Juvia . . . a guy's gotta . . .a guy's gotta make a living . . . you can't expect me . . . to just . . . to just give it away!" he stuttered out.
Juvia furrowed her brow, "Juvia is not asking Bora to give the truck away, Juvia is asking Bora to give a fair price! Or maybe Juvia should have a little talk with Bora's boss about why Juvia and Bora are no longer together."
"No, no, no. Let's not be hasty." Bora pursed his lips, "Fine Juvia, for you twenty-seven grand. That's my final offer."
Juvia turned to Gray with a sweet smile, "Does that work for you Gray-sama?"
"Yea, I guess that could work," he said, turning to look at the truck as if unconvinced.
"Seriously!" Bora yelled, "That's like what we paid for the stupid thing!"
Juvia tapped her lips thoughtfully, "We will take it, but we need a thirty-day guarantee. If anything breaks down on this, you will fix it."
Bora slumped over defeated, "Fine, come along then, let's get this written up."
On the way to his office, Gray and Juvia trailed behind. Gray wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered, "So, why did you and Bora break up?"
Juvia smiled and whispered back, "Let's just say Juvia caught Bora giving his boss's wife a wild ride in one of the cars on the lot."
Gray was shocked, "Oh Juvia, I'm so sorry that's awful!"
Juvia laughed, "Don't worry Gray-sama, Juvia knew Bora wasn't the one for her, Juvia actually was on her way to break it off at the time. And how else do you think Juvia got such a good deal on her car?"
Gray looked at her and smiled, he guessed he had been wrong from the start. Juvia just kept surprising him, and he was finding he liked it.
"It was terrible Cana, I have never been so mortified in all my life," Freed fell forward, resting his head in his hands as he sat at the bar.
Cana pulled down a glass to get him a single malt and tried to smile reassuringly, "Come on now, it couldn't have been that bad."
"We got there and Mira was fighting with that man out front! I thought Laxus was going to punch him, but thank goodness the man didn't start anything. One look at Laxus and he left."
Cana frowned, "Really? Damn, I thought he was going to punch him. Nothing like a good fight to get the blood pumping."
"You wanted them to fight!" Freed was livid. Somehow that part of the plan had been left out in their previous conversation.
"Yea, Laxus is a caveman, he needs to actually fight for his woman. What I don't understand is why Azuma turned him down, Azuma fights anyone," she furrowed her brow pensively. "Laxus must have looked really furious for Azuma to back down."
"And you were going to tell me about the brawl part when?" asked Freed, in complete disbelief at the woman in front of him. "For god's sake woman, because of this whole idiotic plan, Laxus is no longer speaking to me!" He rubbed his temples with both hands, trying to fight the stress headache he could feel approaching.
"Yea, Mira's pretty pissed at me as well. That's why she's working in the back office instead of here. Well, she's kinda just pissed at the world in general, she made all these plans to change this place into a restaurant, but Laxus won't take her calls now. She was planning on using him and the guys to remodel the place." Cana raised her head at the opening of the door, in walked Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Juvia. She smiled, "Well speak of the devils themselves."
Natsu looked at her warily, "Why do I get the feeling I should leave quickly?"
Gray frowned and stood next to Natsu arms crossed, "Yea, if you're talking about us it's rarely a good thing."
Cana stuck her tongue out, "Look at my family, so loving," she said sarcastically. "Really though, can you guys go talk to Mira, she wants to do some renovations in here but she can't get a hold of Laxus and it's making her crazy."
Both guys got a fearful look in their eye, "Like how crazy?" whispered Natsu.
Lucy laughed, "Surely you can't be afraid of Mira!"
"You don't know her like we do Lucy," said Gray.
"Yea, she can be pretty scary," Natsu trembled.
Cana waved off their worries, "Nah! She'll be happy to see you guys. You will be the saviors of the day!"
Gray noticeably relaxed and Natsu grinned, "Oh, okay." He turned and gave Lucy a quick kiss, "I'll be right back."
"Ack, you guys are so cute it makes me want to barf," said Cana, feigning disgust.
Natsu just rolled his eyes and headed to the back with Gray.
When Lucy and Juvia took the seats next to Freed, Lucy asked "What is up with Mira anyway? She hasn't seemed her typical cheerful self."
Freed gave Cana a look of warning, not wanting the brunette to bring more people into the mess that was Mira and Laxus. She winked at him and replied, "Oh, she just had a really terrible blind date and she's a little bit down about it. "
"Why would Mira need a blind date? She's so beautiful I would have thought she could pick up someone anywhere," mused Lucy. "Then again, I don't think I've ever seen her with anyone the whole time I've known her, at least I don't think . . ."
"She just works a lot," Freed was relieved when Cana cut her off, knowing Lucy was intelligent enough to put two and two together if she really tried. "I thought the guy would work for her but he ended up being a bigger asshole than I remembered."
"You were probably too drunk to remember," said Freed sharply. Cana just shrugged.
"Well what is Mira looking for in a guy?" asked Juvia.
Cana smiled mischievously, making Freed wonder why he had tried to work with her at all, she was the devil. "Well you know extremely tall and muscular, honest to the point of being blunt, kind of an asshole, musically inclined, sense of humor is optional," Cana said.
Lucy scrunched up her nose, "Are you sure? That doesn't really sound like all that great of a . . ."
"Juvia knows the perfect man for Mira!" exclaimed Juvia.
"Really?" Cana, Freed, and Lucy all looked at Juvia in disbelief.
Juvia threw her hands up in excitement, "Yes! We have a new electrical engineer at work named Orga and he was just telling Juvia yesterday how hard it is to meet a good woman these days. They would be perfect! Well, except Orga might not be quite the asshole Mira is looking for."
"You say that like it's a bad thing!" exclaimed Lucy.
As the girls continued to discuss their matchmaking plans, Freed grew quiet, unable to fully hide the look of worry on his face. He couldn't help but feel like his best friend was letting the love of his life slip through his fingers. What the hell was Laxus thinking?
Mira rested her head in her hand, staring forward at nothing. She had already cleaned up all the file cabinets, finished the scheduling for the month, and planned out her whole remodel. She was bored of paperwork. She should really join Cana out front, but her anger at the whole date fiasco was still simmering. Why did Cana set her up with such a disturbed man?
There was a knock in the doorway and she looked up to see Gray and Natsu's concerned faces. "Hey Mira, Cana said you might need us?" asked Gray.
Mira smiled big, "Yes! I want to do some renovations, but I haven't been able to get a hold of Laxus." She held out her paper that listed all the things she had decided she wanted to do. "Is there any way you guys could give me a quote and a timeline to get all these things done?"
Natsu took the paper from her and looked it over, "Yea, sure Mira, no problem."
Gray looked over Natsu's shoulder, "When do you want to get started on this?"
"As soon as possible, I already have a new chef coming in. I'm all set right now to close for a week or two in order to revamp the dining area."
"Cool, I'm supposed to work with Laxus tomorrow, I'll see how we can fit this in the schedule and get back to you tomorrow night," said Natsu.
"Great!" said Mira a little too cheerfully, she hoped they didn't notice her flinch when Natsu said Laxus's name. Would he help with the work? Or just send the other guys? It probably wasn't a good idea to dwell on it. She stood and came around the front of her desk. "Well I have to go up front so that Cana can get out of here, her shift is almost over, you guys want to come with?"
"We'll be right up, I think we'll look at the kitchen first and make sure we have all the information we need to plan the job," Natsu gave her his signature grin and Gray gave her a nod. She smiled sweetly back and headed to the bar.
When she arrived she noticed Freed looked completely miserable and the girls were all huddled together talking excitedly. She popped in the bar next to Cana and asked with a smile "What's going on girls?"
"Juvia has the perfect man for you!" said Juvia proudly.
"Oh," Mira's face dropped, "This isn't someone Cana knows, is it?"
Cana winked and set a hand on Mira's shoulder, "Never met him in my life, you're safe."
"Well okay, I guess I'll try one more date, but if this goes anything like the last one I am done with blind dates!" she shook a finger at Cana.
Cana gave her a salute, "You're the boss!"
Unable to keep from mothering, she turned to the frowning man next to them, "Is everything okay Freed?"
"Uh, yes, why of course it is," he gave a forced smile. "You know I just remembered some paperwork I had to get finished up at the office." He stood, throwing some cash down on the bar next to his barely touched drink. "If you ladies will please excuse me," he said with a bow of his head, and left out the front door.
"Do you mind if I head out too? There's someone I need to go see," asked Cana.
Mira shook her head, frowning still about Freed's sudden departure, "I've got everything covered."
"Great!" said Cana, stealing Freed's drink and heading to the back to grab her things.
"So Juvia," started Mira, her face lifting back into a smile, "tell me about this guy . . ."
"What the hell are you doing Laxus?" came Cana's voice with the opening of the sliding door to the porch.
Laxus frowned, annoyed at having his peaceful evening ruined by her squawking. "What does it look like Cana, I'm having a cigarette," he said, taking a drag and blowing smoke out into the crisp night air.
"I thought you didn't smoke anymore," said Cana, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at him.
"I don't," Laxus answered simply.
Cana sighed in exasperation, "Anyway, I don't mean what are you doing here right now, I mean what the hell are you doing with Mira."
Laxus raised a brow, "I don't want to talk about it Cana."
Cana straddled the chair next to him, "Well you are going to, I'm not leaving until you do."
Laxus cut his eyes at his adopted sister, but didn't say a word. He blew more smoke into the night sky. He had thought he could avoid everyone by spending a quiet evening at the old man's house, obviously he was wrong.
"Laxus, it's clear you care deeply for her, why are you just avoiding her like this?" asked Cana gently.
"Why are you setting her up on dates with assholes like Azuma?" he asked, turning it back on Cana.
"How do you know Azuma?"
Laxus gave her a look of disgust, "Tch, you would forget you damn alcoholic. Don't you remember the last time you went out with him? I had to beat his ass to get him out of your apartment!"
Cana sat up straight, surprised, "Oh! Well that explains a lot." She looked back at Laxus again, "But that doesn't explain why you are avoiding her."
"Let it rest Alberona, I'm not in the mood," Laxus warned.
"I don't give a damn if you're in the mood. My friend is in tears and you're hiding like a recluse!" snapped Cana.
"I can't be what she needs Cana," said Laxus quietly, staring up at the stars.
"Huh?"
Laxus sighed, "I can't be what she needs. Mira wants kids, she wants family. I can't give her that. She's better off without me."
"You don't want a family?" asked Cana confused.
Laxus attempted to laugh, but it came out more like a choking noise, "Can you imagine me as a dad Cana? Don't you remember my old man? Why would I want to have kids? So I can mess up yet another generation of Dreyars?"
"Makarov is a good father," defended Cana.
"Makarov was my dad's father and gramps couldn't stop him from throwing his life away, no matter what he did." Laxus put out what remained of his cigarette in the ash tray beside him and pulled another one from the pack in his shirt pocket.
"You can't let the mistakes of your father define your life!" spat Cana.
Laxus lifted both brows this time, "A little hypocritical coming from you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Cana crossed her arms defensively and looked out towards the yard.
"You do anything to avoid having any responsibility in this life; you drink your cares away. You're a smart person but you didn't give a damn about school or getting a job. When's the last time you had an actual relationship that wasn't about sex. Really, you've done nothing but follow in your mother's footsteps. Are you going to repeat history? Are we going to find you dead in an alley just like they found your mother?" said Laxus, his anger nearly pulling him out of his seat.
"No," whispered Cana, shocked at his callousness.
"And what about your old man? You've know his name for, what, ten years now? When are you going to have a conversation with him?" continued Laxus.
Cana stood enraged, "That's not fair!"
"No, it's not. And neither is you coming here and telling me how to live my life! Do I care about Mirajane?" he breathed out deeply, "Yea, I do, I care a hell of a lot for her, but that's not what this shit is about. I'm not going to see her anymore because she wants something I can't give. She deserves to be happy. Hopefully one day I'll be able to walk into that bar like nothing happened and we can all go back to life like it was before. But I can't right now. So back off and butt out. I don't need this Cana."
Cana frowned, "Fine, I'll go." She started towards the door, "Just Laxus?"
"Hmm," he regarded her with heavy lidded eyes.
"Don't cut the rest of your friends off too, Mira isn't the only one who misses you," and with a wave Cana disappeared into the house.
Laxus sat back in his chair, blowing more smoke up at that night sky and quietly cursed at the stars.
Erza opened her eyes and reached over for the man she had come used to finding next to her and found nothing. She sat up quickly, her confusion waking her fully, and turned to find the bed next to her was cold and in Jellal's place was a slip of paper. She sighed and smiled, glad that he was thoughtful enough to leave a note, but saddened that he had to leave at all.
She opened the note and read out loud, "Scarlet, today I challenge you to a scavenger hunt. I have planted clues all around Magnolia, each one will give you a hint on where to go next. If you are able to find me at the end, you are victorious! How quickly can you find me? Love Jellal." Erza's strong sense of competition took over as a wide grin spread on her face. "Excellent," she said, hurrying to her dresser and getting dressed so fast she could rival super man. She looked back at the note, "Clue number one . . ."