Fairytale of Doom

By CrimsonStarbird

Chapter Nineteen – (Not) Part of Your World

Juvia… wasn't trying to sneak under the covers with him.

Said about literally any other human being, this wouldn't have been a noteworthy remark, but when Juvia was the subject, Gray found himself lying there in bafflement.

After rescuing him and Cana from Shan Yu, the water mage had led them to a small cabin on the outskirts of the forest, which she had assured them was abandoned. Dust covered the interior, swirling in the starlit breeze drifting in through the smashed window. It had long since been stripped of anything valuable, save for the roof overhead, the walls promising sanctuary, and a drawer full of blankets that were threadbare but thankfully clean.

Once they had chased a small family of rodents out from under the sofa, it made for a respectable shelter. Sure, it wasn't quite the castle from which Shan Yu had kidnapped him, but hunkering down in a temporary hideout while on the road with his fellow Fairy Tail mages brought with it a far more familiar kind of comfort.

Juvia had announced that she would take first watch, and had gone to sit on the porch. With a murmured, "G'night," Cana had curled up on a tattered armchair. And Gray…

Gray lay on the lumpy mattress and waited, resigned, for Juvia to try and crawl in beside him.

She always tried it. Even the presence of their teammates couldn't put her off, though Gray had successfully managed to deflect her with Erza once or twice, luring the noble and thankfully clueless Titania into taking his place in Juvia's two-person sleeping bag. Here, in this isolated hut, with nothing but a stolen blanket draped over him, he was prepared for the inevitable.

Except, somewhere between this world and his own, someone had changed the rules.

Juvia was in the same hut as him, on an impromptu camping trip, and she wasn't taking the opportunity to snuggle up with him.

No, she was sat on the porch, keeping a lookout for Shan Yu, just as she had promised.

And she must have been there all night, because the next thing Gray knew, he was awakening from a muddle of thoughts to broad daylight streaming through the shattered window.

Juvia appeared, a silhouette in the sunlight, with a delicate smile that suited the morning far better than her normal overdose of enthusiasm. "Good morning, dearest Gray."

"…Hey," he muttered. Then his brain caught up with him, and he added, "Wait, it's already morning? Why didn't you wake me when it was my turn to keep watch?"

"Dearest Gray looked tired," she informed him, a faint pink tinging her cheeks. "Especially after his ordeal at the hands of that barbarian. Juvia thought it would be best for her dear Gray and Cana to rest, since we have a long way to travel today."

"…Huh." Was he still dreaming, or something?

He spent breakfast in the same surreal daze, numbly shovelling the scrambled eggs Juvia had made on the old-fashioned stove into his mouth. Oh, he'd catch her gazing at him every now and then, with a touch of dreamy longing, but she never got too close, or let it interfere with her self-imposed duty of looking after their little adventuring party.

It was after they set off again, Juvia leading the way, that Gray motioned for Cana to hang back with him. His voice fell to a murmur: "Cana, do you think there's something weird about Juvia?"

"I'm fairly sure that the dictionary definition of 'weird' is just a picture of her face," Cana responded fondly.

"Well, yes, but… that's the thing. It's weird because she's not being weird. She's, you know…" He gestured vainly to try and indicate the way she wasn't clinging to him, but striding confidently through a strange land. "Competent."

"Juvia's always been like this," Cana shrugged. "Ever since I fought alongside her that first time during the Battle of Fairy Tail, she's been reliable. Well, when you're not around, at least."

Then a light dawned in her eyes, and a teasing smile curled the edges of her mouth. That was never a good sign. The first time he'd seen that smile, he'd been framed for stealing a bottle of vodka from the bar. Master Makarov still gave him the evils whenever he ordered a shot.

"Oh, I know," she smirked. "You're feeling lonely, because your one true love is no longer attached to your arm…"

"Cana!" he snapped, anger and betrayal taking it up a pitch. To think that she would say that so thoughtlessly, after all the secrets he had shared with her when they'd been captives together…

Her grin slowly faded, becoming something less scrutable. Drink brought her emotions to the forefront, riotous joy amongst her friends or bitter self-loathing alone, but there probably wasn't much alcohol going in this fantasy world – certainly not for wandering princesses. She was sober. And when she was sober, rather than hiding herself behind her emotions, she hid her emotions behind everything else.

"Well, maybe this is your chance," she said.

"My chance?"

"To make your happily ever after go the way you want it to."

"Like I told you last night, I don't want…"

He tailed off. His gaze fell once again on Juvia leading the way through the woods, brave in the face of an unknown world, leading them with purpose through the glow of the morning. Everything he had said last night still stood: he didn't want to marry the possessive, stalkerish, Gray-obsessed water mage, no matter what clichéd ending this world tried to force upon him.

But the Juvia that Cana saw? The Juvia who shone in battle and was admired by his guildmates? The Juvia who was prioritizing their journey over a chance to get closer to her crush? The Juvia who, for the first time since they'd met, was going out of her way to respect his personal space?

Maybe she deserved a chance.

"Hey," Gray said. The word stumbled over his lips, not exactly the suave greeting he had been hoping for, but Juvia seemed too delighted over the fact that he had jogged on ahead of Cana to catch her up to care.

Her sea-blue eyes were just so bright. Whenever he thought of her recently, it was always of tempests and crushing waves and a whirlpool that would grip him until he drowned. He had forgotten that the ocean could also be beautiful: rolling sapphire freedom beneath a burnished dawn.

"Uh, thanks for saving us last night." He couldn't help cringing at his own words, but the things he had intended to say had slid right out of his mind now that he was here, and he ploughed on regardless. "You were… pretty amazing. Thanks for letting me rest all night, too. I've not been feeling my best ever since the shipwreck, so… it was nice of you."

Hell. Could he have sounded more patronizing, more pathetic?

But Juvia just beamed at him, and… well, when one took away the dread of an imminent uninvited hug, her radiant smile was pretty damn gorgeous.

"Juvia is glad she could help her friends," she told him earnestly.

Not just him, but Cana too. She was really trying, wasn't she?

"So, uh… where are we headed?"

"South, to the Rose Kingdom. That's where the others are."

Their friends? That was good news. Gray did, briefly, wonder if Natsu was still in the castle with Zeref, but he brushed his doubts aside. There was clearly something going on with Natsu, and although he didn't know if it was an enchantment, a threat, or plain old Ash-for-Brains stupidity, he thought it was probably for the best if he could meet up with their friends separately and warn them about Zeref without giving Natsu a chance to interfere. Then they could think about rescuing Natsu from whatever Zeref had done to him.

Besides, Gray still hadn't forgiven his rival for that ballroom dancing stunt. Even if it didn't seem to have had any lasting impacts on his destined happily ever after, given that he was walking alongside his own Princess Ariel…

Actually, that was a point. "Juvia, how come you're human? The First Master said that you were playing the role of the Little Mermaid."

"Juvia was, but fortunately, she met a powerful sea-witch who turned her human so that she could find her dear Gray."

Gray stopped in his tracks. "What did she take from you in return?"

"Take?" Juvia seemed mystified by his sudden intensity. "Nothing. Juvia explained everything to her, and she was happy to help."

"But that's not how the story goes…"

"What story?" she asked curiously.

"…It doesn't matter."

After all, nowhere in The Little Mermaid did Prince Eric dance at a ball with Prince Charming and then get kidnapped right out of the royal palace by Shan Yu. Compared to that, Ursula taking a shine to Juvia wasn't that far-fetched. As Cana had said, they were deep in the woods now. Trying to use those films he hadn't watched for years as a guide would only lead him astray.

"How did dear Gray come to be captured by that barbarian in the forest?" Juvia inquired.

As they resumed walking, he launched into a much more abbreviated version of the story he had told Cana. He explained how he had been dragged onto Prince Eric's ship, though he omitted Lucy's presence and the kiss that he was trying not to think about. Juvia gasped at the storm and shipwreck, and he didn't have the heart to tell her that she was supposed to have saved him, rather than buddying up with Ursula. Instead, he recounted how he had come round as a prisoner in another castle, from which Shan Yu had inexplicably decided to kidnap him.

"Dear Gray is so brave!" Juvia exclaimed, so vehemently that Gray didn't have the heart to point out that he'd spent most of his time in this world as a prisoner, an invalid, or royally screwing up his friendship with Lucy. "Juvia is so glad that they are together at last."

So was Gray, and he hadn't thought he'd have said that twelve hours ago. Things had actually started going right in this goddamn world since Juvia had appeared.

"You're acting differently to normal," he blurted out.

To his surprise, Juvia didn't try to deny it. She scuffed the dirt with her shoe. Shyness was foreign upon her shoulders when he was around, but it wasn't, Gray thought, unattractive.

"Juvia doesn't want her dear Gray to feel uncomfortable," she confessed. "During the fight against Invel, dear Gray gave up so much for Juvia. Juvia was humbled by how much Gray cares… and she truly believes they have a future together. So, Juvia has decided that if her dearest Gray is willing to risk everything for her, then the least she can do is restrain herself so that dear Gray can be comfortable around her. This is a new version of Juvia – not with different hair or clothes, but with a different way of showing her feelings. Juvia… is listening."

And for the first time since they'd met, it seemed like she truly was.

Gray knew his cheeks were heating up. Damn the lack of ice magic in this world. He looked like he'd fallen asleep too close to the fireplace, and he didn't even have Natsu around to blame.

With his gaze fixed firmly on the path ahead, he muttered, "You don't have to do that just for me…"

"Why wouldn't she?" Juvia retorted. "Juvia loves her dear Gray, after all. So, if there is anything else that Juvia can do…"

Impulsively, he said, "You can drop the 'dear'. Just… you know, call me Gray. No terms of endearment needed."

"Okay… Gray."

Hell. It was just his name, said the same way that literally everyone else said it. It shouldn't be making his heart skip like that.

But it wasn't just his name, was it?

When he'd first learned this world's rules from Master Mavis, he had panicked, believing Juvia would use their happily ever after to blackmail him into finally accepting her advances. He hadn't considered that she might actually want to make this work for both of them.

That she might be willing to change for it.

He had been so unfair to her, hadn't he? He had thought this world a curse, but perhaps it would turn out to be the greatest blessing he had ever encountered.

This was good, Cana thought, as she trudged along behind them.

Good.

Great, even.

Gray was actually smiling. He'd gone from dread to tentative hope, from frustration to a contentment that seemed to grow with every step. This world no longer frightened him. Heck, another half an hour of this impromptu date, and he'd probably be whisked off to his happily ever after, able to re-join the Alvarez War, save their friends, and get his and Juvia's names right at the top of the list for when Kardia Cathedral was rebuilt and open for wedding ceremonies once more.

She was happy for him.

Honestly, she was.

…

It just seemed a bit unfair, that was all. Gray had loathed the idea of this fairytale world enough to gamble his friendship with Lucy on the slightest chance of averting his predestined ending, and yet everything had worked out perfectly for him quite literally overnight. Cana, on the other hand, who felt like the only person who was actually on board with this whole true love thing, still hadn't run into her Prince Phillip.

It felt like she was doomed to linger on the fringes of other people's romantic subplots: first Lucy's kidnap by Maleficent, no doubt to be rescued by her prince, and now Gray's fated encounter with the one who adored him. When was she going to get her own chance to shine?

If only she knew who her Prince Phillip was supposed to be, maybe she could relax a little. The others were so obvious: Gray and Juvia went without saying, and maybe Lucy's one-sided crush on her best friend would evolve in this world the way Juvia's was before their very eyes.

But Cana? She couldn't even claim her true love was her usual barrel of beer, since she and the Good Fairies had emptied all the bottles of fairy elixir on her first night in this world, and she'd not seen a drop of alcohol since.

She'd tried to laugh it off, rationalize it away. Maybe Gildarts's parental love would save her, in a Frozen-style twist. Maybe not knowing her true love's identity would only make it more exciting when the reveal finally came.

As she trailed along behind Gray and Juvia, though, there was only one thought playing over and over in her mind.

What if there wasn't anyone at all for her?

Because the truth was, she wasn't particularly close to anyone in the guild. She had friends, sure, good friends, but nothing like the special bond that existed between Gray and Juvia, or Natsu and Happy, or even Laxus and his devoted team. For all that she treasured her friendships, none of them had the same narrative weight that she was watching unfold with Gray and Juvia.

Perhaps it was a natural consequence of the fact that her life didn't completely revolve around the guild. While they preferred to stick to the guildhall for parties, she could be found hitting the town just as often, living it up when the guild was having a quiet evening, drinking with strangers, going on dates outside the Fairy Tail sphere. Sure, none of them had evolved into anything more, but she wasn't worried. It wasn't a race. Especially not when the journey was as much fun as the destination.

But, when it came to an event like this that only affected the guild, broadening her horizons had left her with something of a handicap. She'd never had that deep connection to one or two others that each of her guildmates did. No doubt her apprehension towards getting to know her father had influenced her other relationships too.

It hadn't always been that way, though. No, back when she'd first joined Fairy Tail, it had been just her and Gray in a guild full of adults. Well, there was Laxus too, but he was a bit older and way too cool to hang out with them. So the duo had done everything together, childhood besties, from fairytale movie marathons to blaming each other for the occasional snacks that went missing from the bar.

Then Erza had arrived. And she and Gray had formed some kind of weird bond around crying on riverbanks and getting beaten up, and it hadn't just been the two of them any more. With Natsu's appearance, Gray had found a new favourite pastime – squabbling – and the next thing she knew, their generation had exploded and Cana was simply one of many. Her and Gray's movie nights in the guildhall basement had become a weekly extravaganza, and she'd always thought the more the merrier, until the others grew up and drifted away and Gray drifted with them.

Now she was everyone's friend, and no one's bestie.

Cana Alberona, everyone's second choice.

What if she didn't have a true love here, romantic or otherwise? Everyone she'd been close to back in Fairy Tail, like Lucy or Juvia, was closer to someone else. The stories into which they had been cast proved it. This was a world where the casual relationships she enjoyed weren't enough. What if there was no happy ending for her?

She shook her head fiercely. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't, but she wasn't about to let her miserableness at her own uncertain future ruin Gray's happy ending. She was going to support him and Juvia until they managed to make it home. Maybe she could step up and play matchmaker in Mira's absence, and help all her friends find true love as Gray was doing right now.

It sure had been nice when it was the two of them hanging upside down and griping about how awful this fairytale world was, though.

It was almost inevitable that, as soon as Gray found himself wishing this peaceful journey could go on forever, it was interrupted.

There was a rustling of bushes – from both sides – and before he had time to react, he and Juvia were surrounded by a dozen bandits. They wore greens and browns, scars and dirt; each carried at least one rough blade as unfriendly as their eyes.

Damn. When had he become so sloppy? He should have noticed they were walking into an ambush. Just because he was having an enjoyable chat with Juvia didn't mean this was a country stroll – they were voyaging through an unknown world, and they already knew they couldn't trust anyone but themselves.

Speaking of which, he didn't recognize the bandits' outfits. There was nothing so crude in The Little Mermaid, he was sure, though perhaps they had wandered into someone else's story. He'd stopped attending Cana's movie nights years ago, after Laxus had decreed them childish and Natsu called them soppy and Erza made it clear that she thought fantasy fiction was a waste of time. Maybe this was a scene from one of the films he'd missed.

One thing was for sure: the bandits weren't on his side.

He'd have guessed that from their scowls even if they hadn't interrupted a rather pleasant chat with Juvia.

"Juvia!" he shouted.

"Right!" In an instant, they were standing back to back, staring down their challengers. He had forgotten how well they fought together. Ice and water, abrasion and fluidity, a forceful storm when their wills aligned.

Then again, they usually had said ice and water magic to back them up. This time, he had nothing but a pack of pilfered travelling supplies. Even if Prince Eric had started out carrying a sword, he'd lost it somewhere between all the kidnappings.

…The more he thought about it, the more he regretted ever inviting Lucy to board Prince Eric's ship with him. It seemed to have caused the fairytale world to get them mixed up, and now it was inflicting her usual fate upon him.

"Don't you travellers know there's a toll to use this road?" the lead bandit smirked, shaking him out of his musings. "Three gold pieces per person."

"We don't have any gold!" Gray snapped.

"Oh? I thought only fools left home without gold these days." His cruel expression broadened as he raised his sword. "Fools, and those with excess limbs." The blade swung slowly, delicately, to hover close to Gray's wrist. "If you truly have no gold, then I suppose your left hand will do as payment. Perhaps it will serve as a warning for future travellers to not be so… tight-fisted."

Several of the bandits sniggered, but Gray simply stared. What kind of a fairytale had dismemberment in it? If he'd known modern fairytales had become so violent, maybe he wouldn't have been too embarrassed to keep watching them with Cana…

Hang on, where was Cana? He knew she'd been hanging behind, generously giving him and Juvia some space, but a surreptitious glance back along the trail offered no glimpse of her. With any luck, she'd managed to get away.

"Do not fear, Gray," Juvia murmured. "Juvia and Gray can take on anything together."

And just like that, he felt his worries melt away. He and Juvia had never been so in sync. They had overcome far greater obstacles than a handful of random bandits, and they weren't about to stop now, no matter how many blades were ranged against them.

Cana, not being a lovestruck fool, had seen the ambush coming a mile off.

Unfortunately, thanks to the space she had been giving the oblivious couple, that wasn't enough notice to be able to warn them without making it obvious. So she had left the forest trail and made her stealthy way towards them through the trees instead. By the time the trap had been sprung, she was well-ensconced within a clump of bushes, able to observe the scene without being observed herself.

The question was, what next? Her cards held no magic here. She, Gray, and Juvia were unarmed, unprepared, and powerless…

Or so the bandits would like to think.

With a grim smile, she began rolling up her right sleeve. Princess Aurora's unusual long-sleeved dress had hidden it well, but as she inched the fabric upwards, a familiar tattoo was revealed. It embraced her right forearm like an angelic gauntlet drawn in ink and mystery. They were nothing more than mere black lines, but oh, would they shine. Maleficent's kidnapping of Lucy had been over too quickly, and Shan Yu had taken her by surprise, but at last, her moment had come.

Admittedly, it wouldn't be as cool a moment as she had hoped for. Revealing her secret weapon against nameless bandits was nowhere near as awesome as striking down a final villain.

Still, her friends were in danger, and that mattered far more than showing off. She'd learnt that the first time Master Mavis had given her this magic.

Boldly, she stepped out of the trees. "Hello, boys." She flashed the bandits a winning smile. "Let go of my friends, won't you?"

The lead bandit smiled back, half the number of teeth and a quarter as pleasant. "Sure, if you have the twelve gold pieces to cover all your tolls."

"Twelve?" Gray protested. "It was only three each a minute ago!"

"Inflation," the bandit shrugged. "Pay up, girlie."

"Oh, you'll get what you're owed, alright!" Cana raised her hand triumphantly towards the sky. "O river of light that guides the fairies, shine! Break the evil fangs of those who would threaten us!"

There was an awkward pause.

"A… poetry slam?" guessed the lead bandit, mystified.

Why? Why wasn't the magic coming? Fairy Glitter had come to this world with her, the tattoo wouldn't be visible along her forearm if it hadn't, the one thing that made her special…

But she had never been special, had she? She was the most boring of all the princesses. Her prince was notably absent. Her epic adventure had turned into third-wheeling with a friend and his true love. She hadn't rejected her story with fire and passion, as Lucy had, but stumbled out of it entirely by accident, unable to find her way back.

Everyone's second choice.

And she didn't know why she had thought it would be different, just because this was a world with narrative structure and fairytale tropes. Fairy Glitter had let her down the first time, when Bluenote Stinger had struck and her father had had to come to her rescue. Of course it would let her down again here.

The bandits were laughing, but worst of all was the look of pity on Gray's face.

"Nice distraction, Cana!" Juvia shouted.

She was a blur in that moment. The bandit jerked back instinctively, seeming to forget that he was the one with a weapon – and then he wasn't any more, as a deft twist of her wrist sent the sword dropping neatly into Juvia's palm. His companion hollered in rage; Juvia twisted and blocked his clumsy slash.

The water mage took the melee in her stride, just as she had seized the moment Cana had unintentionally created, not only covering for Cana's pride, but turning it into an opportunity for their whole team.

In a flash of bitter understanding, Cana thought she could see why Gray might have fallen for this new, perfect version of the woman he'd been desperate to avoid.

Then there was no more time for reflection, because the battle was upon them in earnest.

"Gray!"

Gray twisted away from an overhasty blow in time to see Juvia disarm her next opponent with a flick of her stolen blade. The enemy's weapon clattered to the ground, and Gray scooped it up.

It felt a bit too clunky in his hand, a blade that he couldn't lighten by letting it melt or lengthen by accreting water vapour from the atmosphere. Still, one couldn't hang around with Erza without picking up a few tips, and he felt much of the comfort that had evaporated with Cana's failed spell return as he raised the sword defensively.

"Nice one, Juvia!" he called back in thanks, before immediately realizing his mistake – how many battles had been lost or almost-lost because Juvia had been distracted by his praise?

But she just raised her free hand in acknowledgement, not glancing away from her own opponent for a second.

It… felt more like fighting alongside Lucy or Erza than Juvia.

Which was so much more practical, and sensible, and exactly what he had asked for, but…

But nothing, he told himself firmly. He couldn't complain about Juvia's clinginess and then mope when she tried to be more respectful.

He needed to stop thinking about her and focus on the battle. He'd already taken a painful whack to his left shoulder.

Yet he couldn't help himself. An idea came to him and he shrugged out of his outer garments, knowing his friends would think it an unconscious gesture. Juvia caught the motion straight away – the fabric fluttering to the ground, him standing there not at all appropriately in his underwear – and then she turned her back, hammering against her opponent's guard with all her strength, as if her love interest wasn't almost-naked behind her.

The blow to his pride stung worse than any wound the bandits had managed to dish out.

Did she not find him attractive any more? Was that the reason why she had backed off: not because she was trying to be less creepy, but because she had gotten over her crush?

Just as he'd started to- well, to not dread spending time with her?

"Gray!" Cana's exasperated cry rose over the clash of steel. "While this would be a great time to unleash your hidden powers, I was hoping for secret magical weapons, not perverted habits!"

"Not on purpose," he grunted, a half-hearted lie. "Wait- Cana, look out!"

Because, when Cana was busy being annoyed by his poorly timed experiment, the bandits had pounced blades-first.

But when Cana had been looking at him, Juvia had been looking at their enemies.

And, suddenly, there was water.

Great curving arcs of water circled around the beleaguered Fairy Tail mages, aquamarine scythes slicing through the rainbow of refracted light. Sharper than steel, more dangerous than any tool held in the hand of man, the pressurized blades cut near-silently through the air.

A breath of wind, a flash of water, and not a single bandit was left conscious.

Juvia let her hands fall slowly back to her sides.

"Juvia- you- how-?" Cana stammered. She looked pale, Gray thought, as if one of those water-blades had cut into her heart and drained her blood. No wonder, if she'd given the failed Fairy Glitter her all, and yet Juvia had been the one whose magic had saved them.

Gray added his own question: "You've got your magic back?"

Bashfully, Juvia tucked a strand of azure hair behind her ear. "The truth is, Juvia has felt as though she could use her magic for a while," she revealed. "When she resolved to do better and live up to her dear Gray's wishes… she felt as though something was unlocked inside her."

"Fairytale world, fairytale rules," Gray evaluated, piecing the rest together. Self-discovery and inner strength was reflected in physical power and magic and victory – though it took many forms, that was an undeniable constant of the movies he and Cana had used to watch together. Juvia's determination to change for him must have satisfied the conditions of her character arc.

"Huh," Cana remarked. "That's great and all, but you could have wheeled out your secret powers a little bit sooner…"

Juvia bowed her head. "Juvia is sorry. She… did not want her friends to feel bad, if they have not yet got their own magic back."

There was only the faintest touch of rigidity to Cana's smile. "Nah, this is a good sign! If you can do it, so can I. Now, if only I could find my Prince Phillip…" She clapped her hands together briskly. "Anyway, we should press on before these irritating distractions wake up."

Gray couldn't have agreed more. Despite having to be saved by Juvia in that battle, he felt a little lighter as they set off again. Sure, it would have been nice if he had been the one to get his powers back, but knowing it was possible was the next best thing.

And soaring over it all was one important realization: Juvia's feelings for him had unlocked her magic.

She did love him. And if he knew one thing about fairytales, it was that a childish crush wouldn't cut it. When she had decided to change her behaviour for his sake, it was an act of true love.

Yesterday, it would have terrified him.

Today…

They fell into step so naturally. Her smile was brighter than Gray had ever seen it. The gloomy rain that had once symbolized her magic had come and gone, leaving behind a summer bursting with life.

Perhaps they had wandered back into a child-friendly storyline, because they ran into no more bandits on their journey. They emerged from the woods to find themselves on the shores of a great lake. Larger even than the lake which glittered behind the guildhall, it laughed at the idea of confinement, swallowing land and distance alike.

Juvia's soft voice confirmed what they were all thinking. "The Rose Kingdom lies on the other side of that lake."

"Can we go round?" Gray asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer, and indeed she shook her head.

"No, it is too wide, and will take too long. We need to cross. However, there should be somewhere around here where we can hire boats…"

Cana piped up, "Ah, yes, there's a shack over there. Gray, come help me get some boats."

Before anyone could protest, she seized his arm and marched him down to the lakeside. She offered no further explanation, and indeed Gray stood there feeling rather redundant as she negotiated with the surly boat owner, before handing over some of the gold pieces they had taken from the bandits who had tried to rob them.

As the owner begrudgingly led them out onto the jetty, where a handful of little rowing boats were jostling against their tethers, a delighted glint entered Cana's eyes. "Aha! I knew it."

"Knew what?" Gray prodded, eyeing the boats with apprehension. Sure, he knew better than to expect lacrima-powered engines in a world without magic, but he had hoped for something a little more technologically advanced than rowing boats. Each one only seated two people, as well.

But Cana's enthusiasm didn't falter. "Don't you see it? The rowing boat, the beautiful lake, the next step in your developing love story… now's your moment, floating in a blue lagoon!"

"Huh?"

"Your big musical number!" she grinned. "Kiss the Girl!"

A/N: Yeah, no, they're just random bandits, sorry. Nothing clever. Probably more questions than answers this time too, but we'll definitely get a resolution for our uncomfortable trio next chapter. Thanks for reading! ~CS