Previously

"Uh..", she tried to speak but found no words as the group of girls glared at her. She heard Natsu grunted and soon, she felt his warm hands entwined with hers as the pink-haired dragged her to a group of people near the gates.

They all had smiles on her faces as they greeted Natsu that was replaced with shock when they saw her. She saw the person involved in her first mission and found the person staring at her like she was some kind of miracle. She took a deep breath, flashed a wide smile then bowed.

"I'm Lucy, nice to meet you, please take care of me."

Chapter 4 (Gray's Clouds)

"W-Who are you?", Gray choked. Lucy tilted her head a little, not really understanding the depth of his question.

"I just said that I'm Lucy.", she said innocently. Gray couldn't help but blush, not just because he was embarassed that he blurted out that question, but also because he found her cute.

A certain bluenette noticed the pink hue on Gray's cheeks, leading her to flash a dangerous glare at the blonde. Her mumbling of 'Love Rival' went unnoticed by the students but Lucy shivered a little, and Natsu looked at her, wondering if she was cold.

"What kind of question is that ice princess?", Natsu scoffed, squeezing Lucy's hand a little.

"Tch. Way to go, Captain Obvious.", Cana snorted while Erza stared long at the blonde; as if she was trying to figure her out.

Being the more normal person in the group, Levy took it to herself to start the introductions.

"Hello! I'm Levy! Are you Natsu's girlfriend Lu-chan?" the bookworm couldn't help but ask. The intwined fingers of Natsu and Lucy were screaming at her never-ending curiousity.

Lucy blushed a little and was about to wave both of her hands to deny it when she remembered Natsu's strong hands holding hers. The blonde angel stared at their intertwined hand and a bigger hue of red formed on her cheeks she tugged, and Natsu didn't let go.

Levy stared at her reaction, finding it very cute and entertaining. When she didn't get an answer from the blushing Lucy, she squealed at the thought that they really were a couple.

"Congratulations, Natsu!", she squeaked, meanwhile, the salmon-haired just grunted at the misunderstanding. Nevertheless, did nothing to clear it up.

"N-Natsu h-has a girlfriend!", the scarlet-haired mumbled as all her previous thoughts vanished, and was replaced with a growing blush on her cheeks.

"I didn't know you had it in you Salamander.", Gajeel said, smirking.

"Juvia's happy that Lucy-san isn't her 'Love Rival'", Juvia said with an understanding nod, then proceed to hug the now topless Gray.

"I can't believe that someone who looks like an angel is with Natsu.", Loke commented dramatically.

Lucy stiffened, wondering if her cover was already blown.

'Does he recognize me?!'

She screamed on her mind and panicked a little.

Natsu noticed it then squeezed her hand a little while glaring at his friends.

"Guys, let them speak.", Jellal said with a sigh, effectively stopping them all from commenting any further. Gray cleared his throat and didn't even try to pry Juvia off his waist.

"So you are flamebrain's girlfriend?", Gray asked while the others looked as interested as him.

"Ah N-", she was interrupted when the bell suddenly rang, signalling the start of classes in five minuetes. The students hurried to their classes.

"Quit talking and go to your classes.", the stern voice of Erza Scarlet commanded. The group of the grunted but and followed her anyway.

"You're a transfer student, right, Lucy?", Erza asked, and the blonde nodded in a daze.

"Alright, why don't you go see Master Makarov first? Natsu go with her.", Erza commanded with a glare. The salmon-haired scowled but followed her anyway because she was Erza. He tugged on their intertwined hands and gestured for Lucy to follow him. On her curious brown orbs he saw a glint of worry, so he stopped and looked at her.

"What's your problem Little Angel?" he asked, scrunching his brows while Lucy pouted at the nickname.

"Shouldn't we clear up the misunderstanding? I don't want to bother you any further."

"Nah, just let them be, those morons won't listen anyway." he said with a shrug then dragged her again. They covered a few steps before he stopped and faced her again.

"And you're not a bother. Don't assume that I'm going out of my way for you. I won't help you if I don't want to."

Lucy rolled her eyes at that but still, she didn't want to lie. Not clearing up a misunderstanding was practically lying too.

"But Natsu-"

"No buts! We're here at the office.", he said then opened the door without knocking. He dragged her inside, smiling at the pout forming on her lips.

He couldn't explain what he was feeling as he held her hand but the grin on his face told him that he was happy.

Lucy missed the warmth of his hand when he let her hand go to talk to Master Makarov. She was wondering why the students call him Master instead of Principal but she just shrugged it off. She looked at the person and was surprised to see the person she did not expect to see here on Earth.

"M-Master?!", she said wide-eyed. A gasped escaped her lips, and Makarov stared at her with an amused smile. Lucy turned to look at Natsu but found him talking to a pink-haired lady.

"M-Master what are you doing here?", she whispered, eyes still wide in confusion.

"Why, I'm the principal of this school my dear.", he said with a smile. Lucy scrunched her eyebrows and scratched her head in confusion. Was he not the Master Makarov in heaven? Maybe they just looked aliked? Or maybe they were twins?!

"Ah, yes. Sorry, I might have mistaken you for someone else.", she mumbled with a sheepish smile. Makarov smiled again and started explaining a few things for her.

"Ah, the top students here are also given a mark of recognition."

"What do you mean mark of recognition, Master?"

"I mean like the one on Natsu's shoulder.", he said then pointed to Natsu's right shoulder. Lucy pouted when she couldn't see the mark because of the sleeves of his uniform. Natsu noticed Lucy looking at him. He raised an eyebrow at her and Lucy just smiled before she looked at Master again, leading the boy to shrug off her weirdness.

"Lucy, are you having fun in this school, so far?", Master asked with a familiar grin. Lucy's eyes widened and she couldn't help but point a finger at him at the realization. Her mouth opened to talk but she was cut off when Natsu held her hand down and looked at her with confusion.

"Don't point a finger at someone, Lucy... even if it is a perverted Jii-chan.", Natsu mumbled the last words and scolded the blonde girl with a bored tone. Nonetheless, it made Lucy pout at him as bowed her head in shame, muttering a soft 'sorry'.

Natsu excused themselves and when Lucy looked back at Makarov, she saw him grinning. He placed his index finger in front of his lips; a wide grin plastered on his wrinkled visage. She smiled in understanding then dragged Natsu excitedly to their room.

"Our classroom is in the other way, Weird Angel.", he deadpanned. The blonde stopped and smiled sheepishly at him. She dragged him again; this time, on the opposite direction. She raised her fist and started running while laughing.

"Come on Natsu! Run faster will ya?"

She was loud.

She was annoying.

She was so violent.

She changes him in the different ways he couldn't think of.

Her personality was not even close to an Angel everyone described but... she managed to worm her way into his life, and he knew that he couldn't ask for anyone else to be with him that time.

Not that he'd say that outloud.

Gray was looking at the dark grey clouds. He sighed as he felt the cold air blowing in his face. It was going to rain soon.

"G-Gray-sama?", he stared at the source of the voice and saw deep blue eyes boring into his. He looked at the worried face of Juvia, wondering why she was worried. He sighed, thinking that it must be because of how long he was staring outside.

"What is it, Juvia?"

"N-Nothing Gray-sama, Juvia's just wondering why Gray-sama looked a little... sad.", she said while fidgeting on her fingers. The action didn't go unnoticed by the raven-haired teen but he decided not to push the topic as he knew where it was going.

"It's nothing Juvia.", he said and before she was able to ask further, he looked at the window once again where the rain started pouring hard. His attention was caught when two teens entered the classroom; one was his salmon-haired rival and the other was his blonde girlfriend.

The blonde was panting but she had a wide smile on her face. But the thing that almost made him fall on his chair was the small smile on Natsu's lips before he removed his hand from the blonde's and gestured for her to introduce herself to everybody.

Natsu looked at her as she introduced herself. She looked really nervous as she scanned the crowd, but she gave a sincere smile before bowing and telling her name.

Gray felt something foreign in his chest as he looked at the blonde. He felt like he was longing for a friend and it made him wonder where that came from because he was sure that he didn't know her; well at least except for the fact that her name was Lucy, and she was his rival's girlfriend.

But her nervous smile and her determined eyes as she wanted to overcome her fear of talking in front; it felt so familiar to him. Like this scene had happened before. His gaze never left her form even if their teacher started his lesson.

Nobody noticed this; except for the blunette who loved the man with all her life.

The next thing he knew, it was lunch time. Gray made his resolve to talk to the blonde, about what? He didn't know, he just needed to talk to her. He gathered his things and was about to move to Lucy's direction when Juvia stopped him.

"Gray-sama.", she said softly. Her eyes filled hurt and insecurity but Gray didn't notice it as his eyes were busy scanning the leaving forms of his classmates.

"What is it, Juvia?", he said with haste, barely looking at the bluenette.

"Do you... Do you like..." Lucy-san? She continued in her mind but she promptly bit her lip as she decided not to ask. Tears started to brim in her eyes... She didn't know what would happen if he ever said 'yes'.

"If you like strawberry cake because Juvia made one Gray-sama!", she said with a huge fake smile and cheerful voice. One that she used everyday, but at the moment, there wasn't anything genuine in it. It surprised Gray, and for the first time that day, he finally took the time to look at Juvia.

Erza, on the other hand, was quietly listening to the conversation at hand. She decided to stand up and go near them in order to break the tension.

"A strawberry cake! Can I have some Juvia?" she asked, her eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Sure, Erza-san.", Juvia said with a sad smile and Erza couldn't help but accidentally step on Gray's foot for it.

"Aww shit, Erza!", Gray complained while holding down his foot. Juvia was confused of the situation but Erza just distracted her by asking for the strawberry cake. Erza looked at Gray sternly then talked to Juvia again; praising the strawberry cake the bluenette made, making Juvia beam at her.

Gray sighed at this then left the room, his earlier need to go talk to the blonde forgotten. He looked at his reflection on the small puddle formed by the rain. Drops of rain fell on it again making his reflection become blurred.

He was a complete mess; he knew that.

Lucy was following Natsu since he suddenly left at lunch time. She was beginning to get exhausted as Natsu was walking quite fast and the rain was making it harder for her to keep up. She pushed her aching legs forward until her hand reached his shoulder. It seemed to snap him out of whatever he was thinking. She muttered incoherent words as she gasped for air and her small hands gripped on his left shoulder for support.

"Wh... Where... are you going... Natsu?" she choked out then looked at him. She placed her other hand on his right shoulder and forced Natsu to look at her. He was silent at first and was about to open his mouth to talk but closed it again for he, himself, didn't know why he was there either. Maybe it was out of his habit of leaving school after lunch?

"Let's go back.", he said after a while then removed the blonde's hands on his shoulder, effectively making her groan. She placed her hands on her knees and breath hard.

"W-Wait! You just made me run you know. How big is your school anyway?", she said exasperatedly then tried to follow him. Too bad she was left out because she was already tired and he was walking fast again like he didn't even walk all the way there. She was about to give up and let him leave first when she suddenly saw his figure crouching in front of her.

"What are you doing?"

"Piggyback. Because you're slowing me down, slowpoke.", he said rather harshly but Lucy smiled anyway. She wrapped her arms on his neck and he hoisted her up easily.

"Geez! For someone so small, you sure are heavy.", he commented, making her smack him hard on his back.

"Tch. What a violent little angel.", he muttered but smiled anyway.

Lucy, on the other hand, was slowly drifting off to sleep as she inhaled his warm and fiery scent. His salmon locks were so soft, as it made contact with her face.

Her eyes snapped open when she saw trees on their way which was weird because they were in an open field earlier and the scenery looked a little blur.

"Hang on Lucy! We're almost near the camp. Shit! Flamehead's gonna kill me.", she heard the man say.

Isn't Natsu the one carrying her? She was about to open her mouth to talk when a loud roar of thunder interrupted her. A shriek escaped her lips as she gripped the man's neck tighter.

"Are you okay Lucy?", he said in pure worry and Lucy could feel his pace going faster. She wanted to assure that person that she was okay but the loud cracking of the clouds and the rain pouring in her skin was preventing her from doing so. They finally settled in a cave and Lucy couldn't help but be thankful that they were out of the rain; though her relief was soon changed to fear as she realized that she couldn't see a thing on that dark cave.

"I'm sorry, Lucy.", said the man. The blonde looked at the source of the voice, though she didnn't know who it was since it was so dark. Why was he apologizing anyway? She felt herself shivering in the cold and she felt light-headed. She suddenly heard her teeth chattering as coldness embraced her.

"Shit! Lucy! Are you cold?", the man asked while placing his hand on his forehead. Lighting traced the grey clouds and Lucy could see the worried eyes of Gray. She was so confused of the situation but she just closed her eyes while trying to warm herself up.

"You're burning up! Please don't die because of me Lucy, I already have Ul and Ultear for that, I don't know if I can handle more.", he said. There was a hint of desperation and sadness in his voice, that she couldn't help but assure him that everything was going to be okay.

"I won't die you know.", she managed to say with a smile though he couldn't see her. He seemed to find hope in her words when he frantically remove his shirt and give it to her.

"Here, use this. It wasn't that wet."

"How about you?", she said quietly, not wanting him to be cold too, though the ink-haired teen just snorted.

"Oh, come on! I'm Gray Fullbuster. I'm used to not wearing clothes. I'm a stripper remember?", he said. The blonde laugh a little and mumbled a simple 'thanks'.

"Why did you follow me all the way here anyway? Flamebrain's right for calling you stubborn.", Gray said with a sigh. Lucy tilted her head a little at his question. So she followed him there?

"Who's Ul and Ultear?", she asked, trying to change the subject. She shivered at the breeze that passed by her so she pulled Gray's closer, sighing at the little warmth it offered. She still felt cold but she knew that this would have to do. She pouted when all she received was a deep a sigh.

"Tell me, Gray.", she said though she knew as much from Mira. She just wanted to hear him talk and open up to her.

"Ul was my teacher.", he managed to say. He took a deep breath and looked at the rain. It was a constant reminder of the day she left him.

"And she died because of me... She died while trying to save me.", Lucy could feel Gray trembling a little but said nothing as the teen continued to talk.

"And there goes Ultear. At first she hated me because I was the reason for her mother's death but it pained me how she also sacrificed her life for me."

.

.

.

After their mother's death, Gray and Ultear continued to live together. Lyon, on the other hand, chose to go somewhere far as he still cannot accept the fact that Ul died. Some of their relatives were good enough to give them food and money as Ultear strongly disagreed with the two of them being separated to live with their relatives.

It wasn't an act of kindness though. It's also not because of the reasons that Ultear is fond of him and didn't want them to separate ways as they were together as kids. No, it was much more than that, although that was what everyone believed.

He could still remember Ultear's words as it struck him like venom, coursing painfully through his heart.

"Live separately? Ha, you think you can do that? And what? Live a happy guilt-free life even after what you have done? I don't think so Gray.", she said with full mockery as her gaze sharpened on the boy's figure. She took a step closer until they were only inches away; as if to ensure herself that Gray would hear everything she said.

"You will not leave me, Gray. I will not suffer alone, we will suffer together and there's just no way you can get out."

.

.

.

Lucy looked at Gray's eyes as lightning flashed once again. She tried not to mind the thunder roaring outside, even if it scared the hell out of her, as she really wanted Gray to continue talking.

"I didn't mind, because honestly, I didn't want to be alone either. Even if she hated me, she was all I had left. But... she said those words, yet she never really made me suffer alone. Because two years later, she also left me."

.

.

.

"You took my mom away from me.", said the girl as she bathed in her own blood. Gray had tears in his eyes as he held Ultear's hands; desperately screaming for help for the girl who was laying limp in his arms. Thieves suddenly broke into their home and when one was going to shoot him, Ultear blocked him and took the shot instead. They quickly left when they heard the police came.

"Ul... tear. Don't leave me, Ultear.", he sobbed as he held the girl's limp form in his hands.

"She... chose... to leave me, just to save you.", she said hoarsely making Gray cry even more.

"But I'm not... mad, Gray.", she said as tears flowed in her eyes.

"I just didn't want to be alone... because I missed her.. so much and I'm glad.. I'm glad that I will be with her again... I...", she didn't finish what she wanted to say. While Gray continued to hold on to her hand. Shouting her name, begging for her to come back... begging for her not to leave him behind.

But, on that day, he was alone once again.

.

.

.

"I was the cause of another death. And it kills me every time, Lucy. It pains me to know that this life I have now is because of their sacrifices."

Lucy could feel the coldness numbing her body but she shook it off as she felt the need to give Gray a reply.

"They chose to let you live Gray, so live your life.", she said quietly then looked at Gray; even in the darkness she knew they had eye contact with each other.

"Ul and Ultear had their own reasons to save you, for that, you have a reason to continue living. I know that you feel guilty and that you think you don't deserve the life you have now but you should know that somewhere out there... somebody is struggling... just to be in your place... just to have the chances of living and doing things that they can no longer do.", she said as she thought of her own situation. Smiling bitterly to herself, she took a deep breath and asked the question she wanted to know.

"Do you pity yourself for being left by Ul and Ultear, Gray?"

Her question made Gray freeze. Lightning flashed and he could see her eyes filled with determination.

"Do you wish that you were the one who died? If you did and if you're still wishing for that until now, then I pity you because you don't know how lucky you are to live. You don't know how you're so fortunate so be given the chance to laugh, cry and learn more. They aren't here physically, but they live in your heart, Gray. Life and death can't severe our bonds for the people we love; and for those things that they can no longer do, do it for them Gray. Live every second of your life with them. Show them, that you're not throwing away the life they saved.", she said, flashing him a sincere smile.

It took Gray's breath away and tears gathered in his eyes as he realized that how much he had been missing in his life.

"Live Gray, live with all your might.", she said her last words before black spots covered her vision. The coldness seeping through his body was making her feel weak and the numbness that she felt was turned into an icy pain that stung her skin.

Gray panicked and moved closer to her, bringing her close to his own body, as salty tears fell from his eyes.

"Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! LUCY!"

"Gray.", Lucy mumbled in her sleep. Natsu stopped on his tracks. Did he just hear Lucy say his rival's name? Thoughts were swarming in his mind as he thought of the possibility that Gray was the person Lucy badly wanted to return to. He didn't know why but he felt a sudden constriction in his chest at that thought. Lucy stirred a little and came face to face with the ink-haired teen she just dreamt of.

"You just... mentioned my name. Do we... Do we know each other before, Lucy?", he said while staring wide-eyed at the blonde.

Natsu, on the other hand, was glaring sharply at the man. Lucy squeezed her arms around the pink-haired teen a little and slowly climbed down his back. Her chocolate eyes met his onyx ones for a second before she looked at the man in front of her; contemplating if she should tell the truth or not because it was bad to lie but she couldn't be endangering her mission because she needed to return to him.

"G-Gray I-"

Still 4 days with 97 to go

Edited-07-22-16