* If I could own Fairy Tail or Vampire Knight for just one day, I would be happy for the rest of my life!

Takuma POV

It had been three days since the incident and Lucy still hadn't left her room for more than 20 minutes at a time. She said that she needed time to make herself comfortable around us again and everyone understood, but I was starting to worry. The only two people that she could stand to have anywhere close to her were me and Hikaru. When Aidou had stopped by to apologize for scarring her, she had yelped and locked her door to keep him out. I saw how much that hurt my friend, but I had had no choice but to make him leave so Lucy would calm down again.

At one point when I thought she was getting worse, I offered her the option to transfer to the Day Class. It had been hard for me to do that because I didn't want her to go, but I was relieved when she turned down the offer.

"I promised that I would give the Night Class another chance, I will not go back on my word. A celestial mage lives by the contracts she makes and that is something I take great pride in," she had told me.

That had been the second day. The Night Class was now returning to the Moon Dorm. Hikaru and I had been taking turns to stay back and keep Lucy company while protecting her. The next night would be my turn. As I was walking to my room, I stopped in front of Lucy's to talk to Hikaru. "How was she today?"

"She was pretty calm and talked to me a lot. When she was sure that everyone was in class and Aidou and Akatsuki would stay in their room, she went down to the kitchen and ended up cooking a meal for the two of us. She's a really good cook," Hikaru told me. I didn't miss the slight lift at the corner of the brunette's mouth. From that small change in his expression, I knew that Lucy must be an amazing cook.

"She also said that she wanted to ask you something," Hikaru continued. "I'm not sure what it is, but she seemed pretty sure about it."

I nodded before stepping past the other vampire to knock on the mage's door. "Lucy, it's me. May I come in?"

A moment later, the door cracked open slightly for Lucy to peek out. When she was sure that only Hikaru and I were outside, she opened the door wider for me to come in.

"How are you doing today?" I asked her, trying not to sound overly concerned.

She gave me a small smile as she closed the door behind me. "Better than yesterday, but you know what? I'm mad at myself for taking so long to get over this." I turned to look at her, unsure of exactly what she meant. Before I could ask, she kept talking.

"You know, I have faced all sorts of things back home on Earthland," she said as she walked over to sit on the couch, I sat down next to her. "I've gone up against dragons that could swallow me in one bite, giant demons that could crush this dorm building under one foot, and dark guilds that are known for killing every person they come across. I've even been tortured more than once, and one of my torturers is now dating my best friend and I couldn't be happier that they're together. But for some reason, I just can't get past seeing Aidou drinking blood from Yuuki's hand and trying to drink from her neck while Akatsuki did nothing to stop him. I'm terrified of them even though they didn't actually do anything to me and I'm mad at myself for feeling that way."

I couldn't help but stare at her. I'd had no idea that the blonde had gone through so much in her life, yet she was still standing. From the sound of it, she would rather do all that again than face another set of vampire fangs. "Everyone is allowed to be scared of something, Lucy. It just so happens that what I am is what you're afraid of."

"But I'm not afraid of you or Hikaru," she said without hesitation. "I don't think I'm afraid of Lord Kaname either and from I can sense about him, he's the most powerful vampire at this academy."

Reaching over, I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Then, as someone that you are not scared of, what can I do to help you?"

"I wanted to go talk to Yuuki. She's the one got attacked and she's been around everyone here a lot longer than I have. Maybe she can say something that will help me get over my fears. I was hoping that I could go have lunch with her today, but I wanted to make sure it was okay before I left the dorm."

Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? Yuuki has probably already forgiven Aidou and Akatsuki for what happened and I know that she likes Lucy! This will be the perfect way to get her to open up again!

"I think that's a great idea. I'll go ahead and call Head Master Cross and have him tell Yuuki that you would like to have lunch with her," I told her, relieved when I saw her face light up with excitement. "I also heard from Hikaru that you're a really good cook, if you bring her food, I'm sure that Yuuki would love to have lunch with you!"

"Do I need to have you or Hikaru escort me or can I go myself?"

"I'll ask Lord Kaname about that, but I'm pretty sure you can go by yourself. Just be careful of the Day Class boys." I chuckled when she started looking confused. "The Day Class girls started talking about you and there have been boys waiting outside every evening hoping to see you. They're starting to think that the girls made you up as an excuse to why none of the Night Class boys are going out with them." I couldn't help but laugh a little harder when I saw her face turn red with embarrassment. I remembered hearing Aidou teasing her about never having a boyfriend before, after watching her reactions, I was pretty sure that he had been right. Lucy was truly a pure and innocent person.

"I'll go make the call and talk to Lord Kaname as well," I told her as I stood up. "So you know, the Day Class has lunch from noon to one, so if you're planning on making something, you'll want it to be ready by then."

Lucy POV

It was about 11:30 in the morning when I left the Moon Dorm to go have lunch with Yuuki. Apparently, she'd been really worried about me since I hadn't been seen with the Night Class the past few night.

Being out in the daylight was really nice. It was hard getting accustomed to the hours of the Night Class and I still wasn't used to it yet, so having lunch at a normal time was just what I needed.

When I got to the main part of campus, it didn't take me long to notice all the looks I was getting. I was wearing the Night Class uniform that Takuma had originally given me and had put my hair up in its usual side pony tail. People were staring and it was making me feel a little awkward. I was just about to enter the cafeteria when two girls and a guy from the Day Class blocked my path, their expressions were really eager, like they had just come across a celebrity or something.

"We're sorry to bother you," said the girl with light brown hair and blue eyes. "But are you the new girl from the Night Class?"

"Yes, my name is Lucy," I said, giving her a smile that seemed to almost give the guy a nose bleed. "Do you think you could direct me to where Yuuki Cross is? I'm supposed to be having lunch with her."

The other girl with red hair and brown eyes gasped as she looked at what I had in my hands. "Did you make those?"

"Of course I did, they're for Yuuki and me," I smiled again. Then I almost dropped it because the girls squealed so loud that it made my ears hurt.

"Not only is she nice, she knows how to cook," said the brunette.

"And she's so pretty too," the red head was gushing.

I heard a hard thump and almost squeaked when I saw that the guy had fallen flat on his back and with blood gushing out of his nose as he mumbled about being in love.

Feeling really embarrassed, I quickly excused myself and rushed past them. I hadn't made it ten meters before I was stopped by four more people who ended up asking me the same exact questions and had very similar reactions. I excused myself again, but they all seemed too engrossed in their own world to notice me leaving at first.

I was just about to be stopped by another group when someone grabbed my arm and the Day Class students quickly backed off. When I looked to see who had grabbed me, I was relieved to see that it was someone I recognized.

"Thank you so much, Zero," I smiled brightly at him. Even from a distance, I heard multiple fan girls and boys squealing and saying how cute I was. "You know, Takuma, Yuuki, and Aidou all warned me that I would probably get a bunch of fans. Now I wish I had taken them more seriously," I told him as I tried to hide my expression, I didn't want any of the Day Class students to see that they were weirding me out.

Zero grunted as he kept hold of my arm and started leading me to where I guessed Yuuki was waiting for me. The girl was sitting on the ledge of a large fountain, it was a giant swan with water flowing out of its mouth and a couple of water spouts shooting up behind its wings. When she saw us coming, she got up and smiled as she came to meet us.

"Hi, Lucy! I'm glad to see that you're okay," she said as the two of us walked back to the fountain to sit. "Zero might not admit it, but he was worried about you too when you didn't come out with the Night Class for the past three nights. He was about to break into the Moon Dorm to check on you when Takuma called Head Master Cross and asked if I would like to have lunch with you."

Zero was worried about me? I looked over to where he was standing, he was keeping an eye out for the Day Class students and keeping them back. It was right then that I knew that even though he acted tough and callus, he could be nice.

"If I had known that he was going to be around, I would have made three lunches," I told her.

Yuuki gave me a wink as she opened up both of the lunched I had made and divided it up into three equal portions, using one of the lids as a platter for Zero. Then she handed the platter to me so I could take it over to him. When I held it out to him, I heard squeals from the Day Class girls and shouts of jealousy and displeasure from the Day Class guys.

"You shouldn't forgo lunch just to keep an eye on me," I smiled at him. "If I come out to have lunch with Yuuki again, I'll be sure to make three so you can have one all to yourself." Zero seemed surprised as he accepted it, but I didn't wait around for him to say thank you. He didn't seem like the type to say it and I didn't want to make it awkward by waiting around for him to say it either.

When I sat back down next to Yuuki, she was smiling at me. "You sure know how to handle him, don't you?"

"I just know people like him back home," I said as I fought down my blush. "I'm really missing my friends, my apartment, and just all the craziness that at the guild. I know that it's only been a few days, but I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever see them again."

She nodded as we started eating. She complimented me on the lunch I had made and I smiled back in return, but other than that, we didn't talk much at first. After a while, I couldn't hold it back anymore. "Are you scared of Aidou?" I asked her without looking at her.

She seemed surprised by my question. "Of course not, he didn't really hurt me and it's already healed."

"But he's a vampire and he attacked you," I said, careful to keep my voice down in case anyone else got close enough to overhear us.

Surprisingly, she just shrugged and smiled. "Stuff like that happens all the time. It's in a vampire's nature to drink blood and they are actually fighting their nature by living only on blood tablets. It takes a lot of strength for them to do what they do."

"But aren't you scared of them now?"

Yuuki looked at me thoughtfully for a second before her expression went slightly serious. "I'm always a little scared of them, but that's just being cautious. I do trust them though, some of them I trust with my very life."

"Like Kaname, you mean?" I asked before I could help myself. When she blushed, I knew I was right. "Why do you trust him?"

She looked off the side, I could tell that she was looking into her own past. "I have no memories from before I was about five years old," she told me. "My first memories are of a scary vampire who wanted to devour me and a beautiful boy who killed the other vampire and saved my life. That beautiful boy was Kaname. He brought me to Head Master Cross, and he took me in and adopted me. I wouldn't have this life if it wasn't for Kaname."

She looked at me, looking serious again. "I know that there are bad vampires in this world and they are meant to be feared, if only so you know when to protect yourself. But there are good vampires in this world too, and they are the ones here at the academy. They will make mistakes at times, everyone does, but they keep trying to make the world a better place."

All I could do was stare at her. She was right.

If she wasn't afraid of the vampires at this academy, then I was sure that I could get over my fear as well… If only I knew how.

"This is so frustrating," I huffed. "I don't want to be scared of them but I don't know how to get over my fear of them."

"But you're a mage from another world, and from what little I know about you, you've come up against much more dangerous things in the past."

Hearing her say that made me giggle. "You're right about that, but I was scared of them at first. At least I was until I started to…" My words trailed off as an idea popped into my head, a way for me to get over my fear of vampires.

I squealed and gave, a very surprised, Yuuki a hug and jumped up to my feet. "That's it! I know what to do! Thank you so much, Yuuki! I never would have thought of that if you hadn't brought it up!"

"Brought what up?" She asked me, looking very confused by my outburst.

"You'll see, at least I hope that you'll see." I grabbed the boxes that had held our lunches and tucked them under my arm. "I'm going to head back to the dorm, see you tonight!" As I started running back toward my dorm, I slowed down to smile at Zero and grab the lid to the lunch box. "Thanks again for your help, Zero. I'll see you tonight!"

Then I was running past the Day Class students, some of them tried to slow me down to talk to me but I waved them off. "Sorry, I can't stay to talk. I've got to take care of something back at the dorm, but it was nice meeting all of you!"

There were more squeals of "she's so nice" and "she runs like she's dancing" but I didn't slow down. I had to talk with Takuma and Kaname as soon as I could to see if they would allow me to do what I was planning. If nothing else, I could try to spin it as part of my "lesson plan."

I entered the building as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake anyone since I knew that most of the residents would be asleep. I, however, was too excited to sleep so I went to the kitchen and started going through the cupboards to see if there were ingredients to make sugar cookies.

I was taking the third batch out of the oven when I heard the kitchen door open and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw it was Aidou. When he recognized me, he looked really nervous. "S-sorry, Lucy. I didn't know… I'll go."

"No, wait." He stopped and looked back at me, but didn't move. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed the plate with the still warm cookies and held it out to him. "Do you want a cookie? They're made from scratch."

He gave me a big smile and nodded before coming closer and grabbing a cookie from the plate. He hummed with delight as he bit into it. I took that as a sign that they tasted good and went back to what I was doing.

"Just so you know, I really am sorry that I scared you that night."

I turned to look at him as he grabbed another cookie from the plate. Apparently he had a sweet tooth like I did. "I know you are, and I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to be comfortable around you again."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Lucy. I'm the one who messed up and I want to make it up to you. Just tell me what I need to do, and I'll do it," he said before taking another bite of cookie.

Oh, you have no idea what you just set yourself up for, I thought to myself as I dropped the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. "Be careful, Aidou. I just might hold you to that."

He chuckled. "I'm not worried; I'll do whatever you say."

I was smiling as I turned around to face him. My expression must have been a little devious because his eyes went a fraction wider in fear. "In that case, I was going to pitch an idea to Lord Kaname that will help me get over my fear of vampires, and now you're going to help me."

"What's the idea?" Aidou asked, a little nervous about what I might say.

That only made me smiled wider. "You and I are going to fight. It'll be a battle between mage magic and vampire powers."

A/N: This is going to be fu~un! I now a lot of you have been wanting to see this since the second chapter when Lucy and Aidou had that little fight in the building. Now they are going to do a full out battle!

A/N 2: Time is drawing short to choose the pairing! Get in your votes and write your reviews as fast as you can! It won't be much longer until it all closes up and the final decision is made!