Hey guys. I can see y'all want more of "Ice Devil's Angel," which makes me happy to hear. However, to get back into the groove of things, I've been given a golden opportunity by none other than the famous GraLu author, LadySVI, to take on her story "Bride of the Ice God," which originally belongs to the author writer4everr.

Anyway! Hope everyone is doing well!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its character. I do not own this plot. This plot belongs to writer4everr.

Bride of the Ice God

Chapter Eighteen

The Apple of My Eye

18 18 18.

Lucy - Present

That next week I headed out to do some apple-picking. It was early morning, and I was all alone. It felt relaxing and calming to be all alone in the morning fog. I hardly got any quiet around Hibiki's house.

Hibiki. Ugh. His advances were becoming increasingly frequent and more obvious.

I reached up for the scarlet, red apple that was high up in the emerald leaves, but I found with chagrin that my arms only reached three-fourths of the way. "Dammit." I muttered to myself and reached up for it once more on my toes.

A large hand reached up and plucked the fruit easily out of the branches. My heels set back firmly on the ground, and I turned around to face the fruit thief, "Hey!" I demanded. "This is—" The words stuck in my throat as I came face to face with a handsome raven-haired man with amused midnight-blue eyes.

He threw me the bright red apple, and I caught it with uncertainty, "Thanks," I replied shortly and looked him over. I was positive he wasn't one of the villagers. I had never seen him before, but a twinge of recognition came about me as my eyes met his. "You-you're strange," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

He let out a low chuckle, "Says the girl with blonde hair." The man retorted back with a teasing smirk. I grabbed my golden strands of hair self-consciously.

"Blonde might be rare, but some appreciate the color," I snapped back.

His eyebrow arched upwards, "Like who? Your boyfriend?" he questioned in a biting tone that sounded, jealous? But how the hell could that be. I just met this man for god's sake!

I colored at his words. "This is unbelievable," I muttered. "I don't even know who the hell you are and how you know Hibiki, who by the way, is not my boyfriend. Who are you?" I demanded.

He extended his hand. "Gray."

My blood ran cold as I heard that one word, and I broke out in shivers. Why was this happening again? My hand trembled, and he noticed this with concern. "Are you okay?" he questioned, concerned.

I nodded hastily. "I-I'm fine. I grasped his hand for support, but I felt a burning sensation in my wrist as I grabbed for his hand. I let out a yelp of pain and tumbled downwards into the grass, my body trembling with chills and my hand burning as if on fire.

Gray let out a low swear and knelt down to grab my wrist; he applied pressure to the mark where the pain was most excruciating and started murmuring soothingly to me. His voice sounded so comforting to me, and I focused on his voice and tried breathing evenly. The pain was easing now, and I could now breathe easily. "I-I'm so sorry." I apologized getting up shakily. "That just happens to me sometimes."

"It does?" his voice sounded strangled.

I nodded quickly, "Anyway, how can I help you? You seem to be lost?" I suggested.

"I do?" his voice sounded amused.

I shrugged. "You look lost, like you're looking for something," I blurted out. His eyes seemed blank, and he just wandered around aimlessly as if he was trying to grasp at something, but it wouldn't stay in his hands.

My father, before he slowly lost his mind and soul, often taught me little tricks, riddles and skills. Among one of the skills was body language deduction. A handy skill that had later on come in handy that I had often used with my father to know if he was in a good mood or not.

Gray nodded, not at all looking surprised at my deduction. "I'm looking for my bride," he replied quietly.

I blushed at his words. "Your bride?" I echoed. The woman who had the privilege of being this man's wife was truly lucky. A feeling of disappointment blossomed in my stomach.

"I left her, thinking she would be better off without me. I've been miserable without her," he explained, sadness creeping into his tone. "I wanted to see if she would want me back."

A lump formed in my throat. I shook my head, why the hell was I acting like this? "S-she must be something special for you to chase her all the way here," I smiled sadly.

"She was unruly," Gray stated quite bluntly. "She had a lot of flaws. She never knew when to stop talking. She teased me often and never could sit still. I think, because of that, however, I fell in love with her," he murmured softly, staring at me intently, almost pleadingly.

I felt the tears running down my cheek, and I raised a hand to brush at the tears, not quite believing that I was crying. "I-I'm crying." I uttered in disbelief. "I-I don't know why I'm crying." The tears slipped down harder and harder. A pang went through my heart, and it hurt inside me as his words kept repeating over and over in my ears, "I fell in love with her."

Gray looked at me with utter disbelief, "Are you all right?"

I nodded with tears streaking down my cheeks. I rubbed at the tears angrily. "I-I'm fine," I replied shortly. I sniffled and looked at him, "Look, just talk to your bride, okay? Promise me?" I pleaded. The words coming out of my mouth felt foreign, but they were coming out of all my emotions that I didn't even know were pent up inside of me.

He nodded silently gazing at me. "Talk to her," I repeated firmly. "I'm sure your bride will want to see you." I gave him a teary smile. Gray was speechless, but he found his voice.

"How do you know this?" his voice cracked with emotion.

I turned away from him and began to walk away and glanced back at him. I needed to get away from him. He was bringing up all these emotions that I was thinking was better kept inside of me. I was becoming an emotional wreck in front of some stranger.

The strangest feeling was that I wanted to be this man's bride. I wanted to just go away with this man who came out of nowhere and just walk away from this life where I couldn't remember a thing. I wanted to start fresh instead of trying to rebuild everything.

"I'm sure your bride misses you, if I was your bride, I would miss you too," I murmured before walking away with that scarlet apple.

Gray - Present

I stood there for a while, left alone in the apple tree orchard.

Lucy Heartfilia.

What the hell had that girl done to me to make me so addicted?

I wanted her back. I was sure of that now. Coming here had definitely been a bad idea. I finally moved and headed towards the hills to clear my mind.

I glanced up the hill and blinked twice. It couldn't be…I let out a growl as my dread was confirmed. A brunette was standing up the hill with her purple eyes staring me down. I stalked up the hill and came up behind her.

"You followed me," I stated unequivocally, annoyance tinged my tone.

Cana's laugh was a soft chime in the wind, "So, how did it go?" she asked with genuine interest, her tone tinged with a hint of playfulness. "I surmise it went well based on your goofy expression. I'm guessing my talk to you actually helped. I knew I could get you to visit," she declared triumphantly.

I rolled my eyes and shifted my expression to a glare, "We just talked," I answered evenly. My stomach lurched, her voice was still ringing in my ears, I had missed her so much-and yet it had been so unreal, like a dream. She was still the stubborn girl that I had known, yet she had no recollection of me. It hurt every time she looked at me with a blank expression. My teeth clenched down together, and I tried to wipe the memory away from my mind.

I felt Cana's fingers brush against mine, and she squeezed my hand. "It's okay," she whispered softly. "I told you that it's a reversible process," she reminded me desperately.

My heart went cold, "I want her to remember. Is that selfish?" My jaw clenched, "I want her back. Is that selfish of me?"

She shook her head, "Wanting to be with the one you love isn't selfish, Gray," Cana stressed impatiently.

"The shifters," I reminded her flatly. "Zancrow."

She scoffed. "Do you honestly think those are any match for us? We were put off guard, so what? We'll be prepared; besides, I doubt that they were going to attack after we kicked their asses." She pulled me so that I was facing her, "Tell me honestly," she demanded, "Did you send her back because she was in danger or because you were scared that you were actually falling in love with her?"

The question hung in the air, and I let out a sharp exhale. This witch, she could read me so easily. "It was a mix of both," I admitted uneasily. "You know me, I actually—"

"—you actually fell in love with her, and you chickened out and used the stupid shifters as an excuse," Cana finished impatiently. She snatched her fingers away from my hold and hit my chest lightly. "You are stupid, you know that?" She glared at me.

I recoiled at her accusation. "You know that's not entirely true," I disagreed. "I kept in mind that she was a mortal, meaning she can die." I repeated for the umpteenth time, did nobody else realize how fragile a mortal's life was? "Those shifters were threatening her." I added in rebuttal.

Cana rolled her eyes, "You know how we can change all this? Change her," she hissed out. "Just give her the damn Misery Flower."

"You know the chances," I retorted back. "I'd rather have her alive without her memory then risk poisoning her."

Cana let out an exasperated, bitter laugh, "God, Gray! It's like you don't want to be with her or something! You just keep coming up with excuses, and it's tiring me out!" she snapped. "You can't get what you want without any risks. Why don't you give her back her memories and then ask her? Instead of drugging her up in the middle of the night and sending her away! I'd bet Lucy would want some input in her own damn life!"

Her barrage of angry words sent me reeling, and I turned away. "I don't know." I walked away, but she grabbed my arm.

"Gray, you're like a brother to me. You helped me out all my life, and I'm just trying to repay the favor." Her tone softened. "You helped me out with Bacchus, so why can't you help yourself instead of always running to people's aid?"

A lump formed in my throat and took her cold hands in my own hands. "I do want her back," I admitted. Her eyes lit up, but I put a hand up. "We'll talk in the morning," I stated firmly.

She smiled brightly. "That's fine with me. We will talk," she promised, and I nodded faintly.

A light laugh emitted from my throat as a humorous thought came to mind. If we did restore Lucy's memories, there was something I was dreading. Miss Lucy Heartfilia would be pissed like no other.

After all, hell hath no fury like a woman who had been drugged and sapped of her memories.

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Have a nice day :)