#middle school me’s favorite was juvia though

[k16is]

[moeruhoshi]

Lucy sighed as she let her hair out of her tight bun, groaning and falling to sit on her couch.

The day has been filled with meeting after meeting, hours of sitting in a chair placed in the corner of the room.

Her father insisted that she take part in every one, otherwise how was she supposed to know how a company was run?

Between that and private tutor sessions that lasted all morning, she was tuckered out.

She kicked off her heels and unbuttoned the top of her shirt, feeling fatigue claim her body.

Lucy wasn't sure she could go on like this much longer, but her father wasn't keen on giving her breaks. The only time she got was the few hours for sleep alone in her apartment. There were no weekends, no sunshine, no amusement.

The gray colorscheme of this life was never the one she wanted. The money, the business, it meant nothing to her.

But where was she going to go? Without her father, she had nothing. There was nothing for her outside of this world, he made sure of that. His business would be succeeded, that was the only care he had.

Another groan passed through her lips as a heavy knock fell on her door. The ache in her legs carried her to answer it, assuming Jude sent a secretary to deliver papers for the next day.

She opened the door with a polite smile, her breath quickly stolen as they made eye contact.

"Hey, Luce," The thick, burly, voice of the man who stood before her sunk into her bones like a well-lit fire. He stood with his hands in his pockets, that familiar white scarf, and his hansomly wide grin. "It took me a while to find ya, sorry I'm late,"

"Natsu," His name was so distant on her tongue, like a dream she had when she was younger.

It felt like that at times, her world before she was forcefully yanked out of it.

She had friends, happiness, a real life any teenager would want.

Every day was eventful, always different and full of laughs. They did everything together, the whole gang inseparable. They were her first real family.

Levy, Erza, Gray, Gajeel, Juvia, and...Natsu. He was more than a friend, and it was too late by the time she realized it.

They were closer than close, together whenever they could be. She remembered the nights where he snuck into her room, bringing in junk food and video games that her father would never allow through the front door.

They called each other if they couldn't meet up, texted in the middle of class when the teacher wasn't looking. She tutored him in the classes he nearly failed, had her maids sneak her into the kitchen so she could make him lunch. She snuck out of the house to meet him, Natsu taking her around every inch of town. They even saved a stray kitten together, his fur an odd blue shade.

When they held hands, hugged, or he slung his arm around ger shoulders, it just felt right. His whole presence seemed to light up her life, warmed her to the center of her soul.

She lost him, them all, when Jude caught the two kissing on the front porch.

They had been out the whole day, on a picnic and watching the cherry blossoms fall. She made a big lunch with Virgo, packed with Natsu’s favorite things. She always loved the way he got so excited over the things she cooked for him.

It was a day like any other, as they spent so many of them together. But his demeanor seemed off when they got to her front door that night. Suddenly he was shy and quiet, blushing and fidgeting.

His words kept getting jumbled and tugged on his scarf at least a hundred times.

In the end, he settled his confession with an abrupt kiss. His hands wrapped around her waist, the sudden movement making her drop the basket.

And for a first kiss, it was a pleasant embrace. His lips were soft and adorable, puckered against her own. Her eyes closed, a dream-like feeling overwhelming her. Maybe that's when reality took its rightful place, maybe it was always just a dream.

Jude opened the door, yelling at Natsu to let her go. He pulled the pink-haired boy off of her, angrily punching him in the nose.

Lucy screamed as she was dragged inside, not able to make sure Natsu was okay.

Her father had him thrown off the property, barring him or anyone else she knew from coming back.

He moved them out of Magnolia before she knew it, before the school year was over, before she could say goodbye.

And just because of a kiss? Surely that was an overreaction for any parent, but this was a special case.

Natsu came from a jaded family, the Dragneels known for their very shady business dealings. His two older brothers stood by his father's side, and ran things on the street. Though no one could ever prove what they were really doing.

A Dragneel would never be good enough for a Heartfilia, he made sure to drill that in her head.

A scandal with that seedy family could mean ruin, it was already bad enough that he allowed them to be friends.

"Natsu," She said again, his name filling up her heart. It took away her soreness, blew away the dark clouds that shrouded her life. His wide spread grin made butterflies rise in her stomach; she never realized how much she missed this feeling.

"Natsu..." He closed the door as he stepped inside, wrapping her up in his arms.

When was the last time she felt so relaxed? Those few years ago when he kissed her, she assumed.

"You still smell so good," He mumbled into her hair, nuzzling his nose against her cheek.

"I missed you so much," She teared up slightly, giggling as he lifted her off her feet and walked them further into her home.

"I missed you too," They both laughed as they fell onto the couch, still tangled in each other's arms.

"What's with the suit?" She asked, smirking as he rolled his eyes.

"Really? Thats your first question? Not how I am or anything normal, weirdo?"

"You always wore hoodies and jeans, don't blame me," She smacked his arm with a small pout.

"It's for work, okay? Duh," He sighed. "Dad insists that I gotta look nice."

"It looks nice on you," She pulled playfully on his tie, Natsu leaning his forehead against hers.

"Its like you never left," He groaned. "Dammit, Luce, its like you never left,"

"I never wanted to leave you," His hands held her face, thumbs rubbing calm circles on her cheek.

"Everyone's been worried sick since, you never called,"

"Father tracks my phone bill," Her chuckle was fitted with annoyance, her fist slightly balled up. "I wanted to,"

"Damn bastard, he's lucky my nose healed," Lucy giggled as he looked away, the blonde gently kissing the ridge.

"What took you so long?" Her lips felt tingly, Natsu's eyes boring into her, as if he could see her soul.

"I had a lot to do before I could come get ya," His voice was suddenly a bit rough, his hands a bit more steady. "I'll take you away, I promised myself I'd come save ya,"

"Really?" Her heart clenched as he nodded, both of them leaning forward.

"I never got to hear what you thought of my kiss," She gulped as he now spoke in a husky whisper. "Do you remember it?"

"Mhm," She felt smothered in a pool of honey, all of her previous worries vanishing with each passing second. Had it felt like this the first time? She only remembered the pain of watching the bloodied Natsu being dragged away by their security team.

Their kiss was gentle at first, like an old memory rising from the dirt of the past. Natsu laid back against the couch, pulling her along with him. His hands stayed cupped on her face, their lips moving in slight sync.

It was a warm embrace that grew as their hunger for more was ignited.

Their kisses became deeper, their hands began to wander and explore each other.

He pulled her tongue into his mouth along with a soft moan, his hands fondling her hips.

"No one taught you how to kiss, right?" Natsu grumbled as he pulled away for a brief moment.

"You're my first and only kiss," Lucy let out a happy gasp as Natsu flipped them over, a slobbering kiss pressed against her cheek.

"Damn right I am," She rolled her eyes and bit her lip as he began to unbutton his shirt, revealing a dragon tattoo that wrapped around his torso.

"I wanna be sure, Luce," She frowned as he stopped at the last button. "I know I showed up outta the blue, but you know what I want. So if you can't come with me, I'll understand. Just know that I'm gonna give you the whole fucking world if you do. I fuckin' love you,"

"You're my soulmate," He purred happily, grinning his signature grin as she began to unbutton her own shirt. "Take me wherever you want, Natsu,"

[golbrocklovely]

I hate salt n vinegar chips lol I hate the smell of vinegar and the taste is just so sour blehh!

I want a jeep too! Either a 4 door wrangler or a Cherokee!

I do and I don't wear makeup, my skin has been so bad the last couple years that any foundation looks awful on me and I can never find my correct shade. When I do put on makeup its at like 3 am and its almost always just eyeshadow lol I have a lot of juvias place pallettes and I just got the James Charles pallette! I really like it. I don't really have money for makeup that I really want so I mostly use drugstore. I like maybelline and loreal a lot. I really want a bunch of MILK products and some more laura mercier products (I only have the powder)

My style right now is honestly pretty basic maybe a little boho but lately I've been trying to channel my middle school emo girl. Trying to live out my og e-girl alt punk dreams lmao probably won't last long though my styles change so much lol

I haven't actually had any memorable dreams lately, thats weird I usually dream a lot and almost always remember them so the fact that I'm just now realizing I haven't been is tripping me out lmao

Have you ever smoked the devil's lettuce? Last book you read? Last 3 liked songs on Spotify (or whatever music streaming service you use)

vinegar smells so bad to me. but weirdly vinaigrette not as bad haha

omg yay ! i kinda want a two door jeep, or whatever is the cheapest tbh. idk why i have fixated on a jeep. it could be from the years i dedicated to watching teen wolf and just believed i am stiles lmao

i recommend if you want some cheap makeup that's actually really good, try colourpop. i have a bunch of their products and they work well. their monochromatic palettes are really nice.

it's funny how much makeup i own when i literally don't use it. i think to some degree i just like that i have the option to do makeup if i want to now lol

that's cool ! i went thru a bit of a boho aesthetic when i first got into college. but i've definitely come back around to my true form: someone that looks like they work at hot topic lmao it's honestly the one style i always feel cute in. i recommend everyone to go thru an emo phase.

i always try to remember my dreams bc sometimes they are just so cool (and i've literally made stories based off of dreams i've had). they don't usually make the most architectural sense, but they're nice nonetheless lol i swear my dream land is basically a m.c. escher painting sometimes

i've never smoked mary j, but i have had it shotgunned at me (basically someone blew the smoke into my mouth). i was really drunk. i don't really recommend it. just actually smoke it if you wanna haha

i started reading a stephen king novel, but never got around to finishing it. it seems good tho. it's called 'the outsider'. but the last full book i read was called 'there's someone inside your house' by stephanie perkins. it was so good i read it all in one night. it's gonna be a netflix movie at some point so i'm excited for when that's gonna happen.

and the last three songs on spotify i liked were actually all from colby's playlist, which is funny bc i don't really listen to it. these were just the songs from the original release that i liked. and i liked all of these back in aug. i don't really use spotify all that much.

two year plan - such gold

have you ever been in love - the ivy

in the middle of it all - citizen

questions: what is your favorite disney channel original movie (halloween themed and regular haha), who's closet would you rather have: sam or colbys?, do you believe in any conspiracy theories?

[thewritingstar]

Back to those summer days

Pairing: Gruvia 

look its not angst (totally) see i can do fluff...kinda. well enjoy anyways. 

----

“So you’re leaving me?” Lyon said with an eye roll. “Lets just calm down before you do anything stupid.” 

He stood and walked towards Juvia, arms open ready to hug her. And normally it would work. She would blow off their arguments and his hurtful words and just run back to him like always. 

But not anymore. 

Anger took control as she took a step back, a clear sign of disinterest. 

“No Lyon, Juvia is done with you.” She spoke firmly. Her arms folded in front of her chest as she put her foot down. “Juvia won’t tolerate your behavior.” 

The white haired man let out a obnoxious laugh. “Behavior? What am I a child? Juvia you got your head all mixed up so lets just go to bed and forget about this.” He tried to reach for her again but she swatted his hand down. 

“Juvia said no.” Her chin tilted up as she stared into his eyes. “Juvia doesn’t love you anymore.” 

It was his turn to step back. His eyes raked over her and then widened. “Whats his name.” 

“What?” She asked. 

“What. Is. His. Name.” He demanded. 

Picking up her purse, she turned to the door. “It doesn’t matter whether there is another person or not. What matters is that we are done, so don’t accuse Juvia of something that never happened. You might not be the best person but Juvia would never sink that low, she has enough dignity to walk away without the lust of another person.” Her head snapped towards him and she scowled. “Unlike you.” 

Before Lyon could react she was already slamming to door shut to their now un-shared apartment and got into her car. There she let the tears fall and her body shook her core. She couldn’t believe she did that. She couldn’t believe she had the strength to get out of a terrible relationship before things got worse. 

She wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for him though. Taking out her phone she opened the text message from her old friend, the one she fell in love with years ago. 

They had gone to elementary, middle and high school together and she remembers how she used to fawn and chase after him in those time. Before they started college in the fall, summer belonged to them. 

She recalls all the blissful moments they shared on their dates. It was a romantic summer fling that movies and book could only dream of capturing. And she can remember the heartbreak of them departing to their separate places. The phone call after the airport drop off and the amount of tears shed as she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold him in her arms for a few years. 

The was a pain of knowing that he could easily forget about her and move on. fall in the arms of another girl and be happier than they would be together. She tried to move on but every time she closed her eyes, she was transported back to the lake side when he said “i love you.” for the first time. 

It hurt when their phone calls and texts died off and how during her darkest moments she couldn't call him. So when she started dating Lyon, it felt wrong. She tried to make the best of it and at first he was sweet but then she stopped caring about her treatment because if she couldn’t have the man who respected her and treated her like a goddess, there was no point. 

But then one night after a massive fight between them, she didn’t know what to do. She was all alone in Levy’s apartment where she was staying the night and clicked his contact by mistake. Her tears were clear through the phone and by the time she finished her speech, he was coasting her through her sobs. 

“Im so sorry Juv. I wish I was there.” 

“You do?” She sniffled and hugged her knees tighter. 

“Well yeah, you didn’t think I would just forget about you like that?” 

And she felt horrible. She cried harder as she realized that the man she loved was still hers after all this time, that in one word they could be together once more. Her cries became joyful as he said he was coming back home for the summer time and she knew what she had to do. 

As the months passed she found herself growing further and further apart from Lyon and when she found out about him cheating, it was almost numbing and freeing at the same time. 

So her she sat, free of Lyon and tears in her eyes. 

She looked down at her phone and sent a text before speeding off towards her destination. Her heart was beating faster than a drum and her palms began to sweat. She ignored every text and call from her ex-boyfriend and refused to go back to him. She knew her worth and it was time for the old confident Juvia to stand again. 

she parked the car quickly and barely locked it as she raced onto the beach. Stopping in her tracks she saw him. His back towards her as he looked out to the ocean. The sea was special to them. 

Without missing a beat she raced towards him and he spun around just in time to catch her in his arms. Her eyes shined bright as she caught a glimpse of him. 

He looked just as before but with hair that needed a cut and arms that showed his daily gym routine. 

“Hi.” Her smile couldn’t be contained as her eyes never left his. 

“Hi” He repeated. 

The stood holding each other for what seemed like an eternity. The waves crashed slowly behind them as she took this moment to brush her fingers on his cheek. 

“Juvia missed you.” She whispered. She wasn’t sure if things were actually gonna pick up from the summer and she hoped that it wouldn’t end just as quick. 

He smiled before brushing their noses together. “I missed you more.” He said before kissing her. 

It was like fireworks. She hadn’t felt this warmth in what felt like eons as his hand pulled her closer. Her arms went around his neck and deepened their kiss further. This felt right. This felt like home and it felt like freedom and happiness. 

Their kiss finished but their hands never moved. He wiped the tears pricking the corner of her eyes and took her hand before walking down to the shore. 

“I’m moving back home.” He stated and her head snapped to his. 

“What? But Juvia thought-”

“Ehh the school wasn’t for me. I felt lonely and the program wasn’t even that great. Plus.” He leaned towards her. “I couldn’t take not being near you when ever I pleased.”

She giggled as he kissed her hand and spun her around before grabbing her waist and pulling her close. “Hearing you cry that night on the phone made me realize just how unhappy I was. No matter how bright the sun shined, there was this cloud hanging over me and i knew that you were the only one to clear my sky.” 

“Hmm college made you a poet Gray-sama.” She hummed before pecking his lips. “But Juvia feels the same way. Now lets go get food!”

He laughed before following her to her car. She tossed him the keys and drove off towards their favorite restaurant. The window blew through the windows and through her blue locks. The music played as he rested his free hand on her thigh and told her all about how awful his roommate was and what it was like there. 

It took her back to when they had their first date. The beach, then dinner at Cana’s Diner. It felt right to be back in that mind frame. 

“So tell me about this boyfriend?” He said over the music and she let out a pout. 

“no Gray-sama is gonna make fun of Juvia.”

“I promise I won’t.” 

“Fine!’ She said before whispering the name. 

“LYON? No wonder you weren’t happy. I may have been friends with him but there is no way in hell he could have treated you better than me.” 

“You have a point.” 

They parked the car and before getting out, Gray asked another question. “Was the sex good?”

“Gray!”

“I’m kidding!” He laughed. 

She ignored him and shot him a glare before taking his arm and walking inside.

---

Hope you liked it!! 

I also wrote this in ten minutes sooooo.  

[mondstat-archived]

Fun fact did u know I ran a popular fairy tail blog in middle school. So i would love to hear ur thoughts on fairy tail <3 since it was the peak of my life

I did not know that <3 that’s so amazing... I had a fairy tail birthday cake for my 14th and it’s the best cake I’ve ever had to this day

❤ Favorite Male: I think Rogue, he’s so great! Gajeels very close though

❤ Favorite Female: It’s too hard to choose between Erza and Cana! Loves of my life (also Aquarius)

❤ Favorite Pairing: Gajevy <3 

❤ Least Favorite Character: Lisana ... she’s so frustrating

❤ who’s most like me: I have no idea... kinsign me perhaps !!

❤ most attractive: Gotta be those three guys under Ichiya in Blue Pegasus, ofc

❤ three more characters that I like: Juvia, Mirajane and Brandish!

❤ Extra: Cana doesn’t get nearly enough screentime I wish they gave her way more

[be-dazzled]

#SIYC

Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser FFnet link: click here Tumblr link: explore here Genre: Multi-chapter, Romance, Comedy Rating: M for sensitive content and language

Summary: Gray Fullbuster is a player both in love and in life. He plays Professional Basketball and is being groomed to be in line with Basketball Legends Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. There’s just one problem, Gray Fullbuster is a play-ah. His life is a giant mess of crazy parties, waking up with random women and waking up in random women’s apartments. Just living the life. 

The opinion of the public on him is waning. To save the million-dollar endorsements in the verge of disappearing, Gray needs to change his image. Therefore, Gray Fullbuster, Fiore Knight’s Team Captain and Most Valuable Player, will be in the next season of “My Star Can Dance”. 

There’s another problem: it seems like his star isn’t that bright since his partner, one of Fiore’s prominent ballerinas, doesn’t know him? His billboard is hanging in front of her dancing school! And it was a good billboard since all he was wearing was his six-pack and an Aztec bandana. How come she didn’t notice?

…

I've been stung All this chemistry has got me falling I'll be alright I'm definitely high

– GOOD, Erin McCarley

…

Juvia dashed to the living room. Alas, it was too late. The can of worms had been opened. There was no escaping now.

Juvia caught his father seated in the middle of the living room, an open album spread over his lap and a curious Gray leering over him. Gray hanged on Julian’s every word; his midnight eyes glued on the pages of a photo album. Times like this that Juvia wished she was an athlete rather than a dancer. The resentful ballerina dropped down the couch next to Gray, accepting her fate. She just wished it wasn’t ‘the album’ every girlfriend prayed would never see the light of day.

 “Here’s my little girl in her first pink tutu. She was four and she never took it off.” Julian beamed. “Here she is in her first recital; she played the young snow white, my little princess.”

 The doting father pointed at each photo as he recounted the momentous events in Juvia’s growing years. He glanced at her with pride and love every now and then. Juvia received her father’s gazes with a smile. Yet, the ballerina was on guard. At the back of her mind, the nervous girlfriend wished nothing embarrassing would come out of the album.

 “Oh.”

 But fate was a mischievous one. As Juvia’s luck would have it, a single photo fell out of the album when Julian flipped the page.

 “How did it get here?”

 That rhetorical question never meant any good for any one. Girlfriend instinct forced Juvia to grab the polaroid, beating Gray to it, before the man had a good look at baby Juvia naked in the tub.

 Why do baby pictures always have to be them butt-naked?

 “I’ll take that.” Juvia ran out of places to hide the photo and decided to keep it inside her brassiere. For sure, no one would dare look in there.

 “Hey, I wanted to see that.” Gray protested.

 The moment the words escaped his lips, Gray realized the possible confusion that his statement may bring. Before they eventually make him lose his standing as Juvia’s favorite boyfriend, he quickly turned to Juvia’s father to clear things up. “I meant the photo, Sir. Not… not your daughter’s… braHey how about this one?”

Gray hurriedly flipped the album to the next page before the now suspecting father held him accountable. His fingers slowed down and ultimately stopped at a single page. Something else caught his attention. Words failed him, his breath hitched in his throat. The corner of his mouth turned up to the slightest degree which did not escape Julian’s studying eyes.

 “That’s Juvia in her Fairy Tail jersey.”

 “Wow.” Gray said breathlessly staring intently at the photo. He memorized the photo with a gleam of awe in his eyes.

 “I have no place in Ballet.” The older man felt the need to get into detail. “She probably felt bad for me. So, Juvia came with me for every Fairy Tail Game, even though she hated it.”

 “I didn’t hate it, dad.” Juvia gently corrected.

 Gray turned to the woman who apparently shared his love for basketball – proud and beaming and happiness written all over his foolish smile.

 “I didn’t know you liked basketball.”

 The affection in his eyes was met with recognition. Juvia wasn’t trying to hide it or anything. There was just one little detail she would like to keep to herself – take to her grave if she could. If Juvia started talking about her like of basketball…

 “Liked it? Juvia loved it!”

 Olivia chose that moment to walk in and release the Kraken. The socialite set the chocolate mud pie on the coffee table. Then, she sat on the arm rest, snaked an arm around her husband’s shoulder before the diplomat rested his arm on Olivia’s lap in return. It was the most natural sight.

 “She almost became a basketball groupie.”

 “What?” The surprise widened Gray’s eyes but it failed to hide the glint of excitement and a little bit of mischief he felt over the information.

 To Juvia’s horror.

 “In High School, she almost quit ballet to become a cheerleader. And it’s not even for her school’s team.”

 The couple shared a laugh that bounced around the living room. They reminisced the good old days like it was yesterday.

 “I remembered her and that little friend of hers, what was her name?”

 “It was Levy, darling.” Olivia offered, referring to the now assistant show-writer from the dancing show.

 “Oh yeah, Levy. Every weekend they’d take the train to watch basketball events in all parts of the country.”

 Julian did not notice the warning look shot his way by none other than his only daughter.

 Really. ‘All parts of the country’ was a bit of a stretch.

 “There was even one time; her grades were failing so we had to ground her.”

 Juvia knew where the conversation was going but her efforts to change the subject were futile. Her warnings were ignored. She couldn’t help but think, “Was there like a rule that tells parents to embarrass their daughter in front of their boyfriend that she wasn’t aware of?” Because the next part of this story was…

 “But her favorite basketball team was playing so she snuck off and climbed the gates.” Julian had to wipe the tears off the corner off his eyes.

 “Okay, dad.” Juvia stood from the couch, planning on collecting her parents for a nap or something. Anything. “Story time is over.”

 “Wait. Wait.” He said between pants. “Here’s the best part…”

 But that wasn’t the end of it. Juvia braced herself for the grand reveal.

 “Her clothes got stuck on the fence and her mother and I had to take her down.”

 A chorus of laughter erupted in the Lockser living room with one voice missing. A picture of the young, delinquent ballerina dangling on the fence would have been a sight to behold. Not for Juvia. Yet, when she thought the worst part was over, her mother opened up her mouth.

 “She got so mad she wasn’t able to watch the Magnolia High basketball team. She didn’t even talk to us for a week.”

 Juvia felt the urgency to put a stop on the conversation before Gray…

  “Hey, that’s my High School team!”

 Gray received a knowing smile from Olivia. Finally putting two in two together, he turned to the blushing ballerina beside him. “You’re a fan of my team?”

 “Oh, she’s a fan but not entirely of your team.”

 “Mother.” Juvia shot the older Lockser her last warning. If the woman wouldn’t keep quiet, it wouldn’t take Gray long before he uncovered a little embarrassing information that Juvia buried a long time ago.

 Olivia raised her hand in the universal sign of conceding. She left the armrest and picked a slice of the sweet dessert.

 “Oh!” It was Julian who exclaimed, remembering every girl-to-girl talk he was never a part of. “Is he Captain Cutie?”

 “Dad!”

 “I’m Captain Cutie?” Gray pointed at himself, half-amused and half-surprised at Juvia’s apparent nickname for him.

 The cat was finally out of the bag.

 Juvia didn’t address Gray. She deflected the issue by putting the blame on her mother; the latter invoked deniability.

 “I can’t believe you’re the Captain Cutie we’ve followed around the country for basketball competitions.”

 Again, ‘followed around the country’ was such an overstatement. The farthest she went to watch Gray’s game was Oaktown which was a two-day ship ride away. But it didn’t stop the corner of Gray’s lips to quirk in pride, pleasure and something else.

 “You followed me around?”

 Juvia stood up from the couch, all flustered and ready to jump into the beach and never come up shore.

 “In my defense, I was really young and you were really cute.”

 Until the very end, Juvia remained defensive. The reason she didn’t want Gray to find out about “Captain Cutie’ was exactly because of how he’d use the fact to tease her, to no end. It was going to be an endless discussion of who liked who first.

 “Well, you kids might want to talk about this whole ‘Juvia was your biggest fan and she had a big crush on you’ thing while you get me some pack of burger patties.”

 Julian’s voice broke the tension. He coyly gave her daughter, who now had her eyes narrowed at him, a smile. But she couldn’t keep the frown on her face.

 “C’mon, Gray.” She walked over the key-holder to grab the keys to her father’s convertible. “I’ll show you around town.” She walked past her folks, dangling the keys in front of her father as punishment.

 Two could play at this game, dad.

 “Not, not the… not the Ferarri.”

 Julian reached out to grab the keys from his daughter’s hand but Olivia kept him where he was standing.

 “Let it go, honey.” Was his wife’s comforting words.

 …

 All the way from the car to isle fourteen, Gray barraged and teased the ballerina, as Juvia had suspected, about that little secret he luckily stumbled upon.

 “I knew you were a fan but I didn’t realize it went way back in High School.”

 “Quit while you’re ahead, Gray.” Juvia warned as she pushed the cart along the meat aisle. Juvia stopped when she hit something. Apparently, it was a 5’9 chunk of a man with a petty smug on his bright face.

 “You had a big crush on me, didn’t you?”

 Juvia rolled her eyes. She didn’t know if Gray was stupid or acting like one. Following him around her entire High School life did spell ‘big crush’.

 “It was a momentary lapse of judgment.” She hit him again with her cart and shifted it to push ahead of Big Head.

 Gray caught up with her picking up a pack of twin burger meat. Apparently, his girlfriend was still pouting. Sensing her irritation, Gray thought of a way to lighten up her mood.

 “Well, if it helps, I really have a big crush on you, now and I’m sure I would have if I’ve seen you in one of those cheerleader uniforms.”

 “Don’t be creepy.”

 Juvia stopped inspecting the packed meat and turned to him, a small smile tugging on her lips. Gray had a way with words and made it hard to ignore him anymore. She told him to continue that she might like him again.

 “And actually,” Gray held her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles. The corners of his eyes creased with his smile. “I am kind of whipped by you.”

 This time, it wasn’t what he said.  It was how he held Juvia’s gaze, the way his eyes adored her. Those dark midnight eyes had the power to entice and she bet her money on it, many had fallen for them, including her.

The two became suddenly aware of their surroundings and the voice of someone clearing up her throat ruined the moment. They whipped around to see a large woman around in her late fifties, in Gray’s rough estimate, throwing them a nasty look.

 Man, they really were not a popular couple among the forty to fifty demographic.

 …

 Gray and Juvia spent the whole afternoon going around town, meeting the people in Juvia’s life, visiting the places monumental in her growing years. Some of the townspeople recognized them from the show and requested to take photos. There were also who were fans of Fiore Knights and commended the MVP’s performance in the last season.

 When they passed by the town plaza, Gray had a good laugh at the giant tarpaulin with Juvia’s face on it. The woman did her best to hide her face from the public. She didn’t like attention even though her beauty did demand it. The upside of it, Gray said, was that the photo they used looked really pretty.

 Walking down Juvia’s memory lane, Gray had a glimpse of the ballerina’s childhood. He enjoyed it immensely. He liked sitting at a corner both of a local diner, enjoying the unhealthy but classic combination of burger and fries. He loved listening to her friends in town talking about embarrassing things Juvia did when she was young. In every story, in every person, in every place, Gray made new discoveries.

 When they came home late that afternoon, Julian Lockser threw himself at the red Ferrari, embracing the luxurious car as much as his long arms allowed. Juvia swore she heard him apologize to it (for letting his daughter drive it) even if she returned the luxury car unscathed.

 Olivia suggested that they give the man a moment with his car and hinted the idea of inviting Gray down the beach for a stroll. The boy agreed quickly but not before he saw a tear escaped Julian’s menacing eyes.

 Why was Gray even scared of that guy?

Writer’s Corner: Hi guys! So, I am a little behind uploading here. I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT CHAPTER 9. I really thought I already posted that one here. Anyways, hope you guys like this one. We are finally on Chapter 10 woot woot.

[prettylittleheartfilia]

The Color of Sound

I found this while looking for prompts and fell in love with the idea. Hope you enjoy ☺️

Lucy Heartfilia loved to read. Ever since she was a little girl, she would spend day and night in the Heartfilia Mansion library. She read books of romance, adventure, mythology, mystery, but her favorite books to read were memoirs. Specifically, memoirs of Bonded Souls: Two people who would be born with opposite defects and heal once they found each other. She longed for the moment when she would find her own soulmate to complete her, though sometimes she felt it was futile.

She could sense by the way people looked at her that everyone pitied her. She didn’t blame them, though. Most people met their soulmate by age eighteen, and Lucy was already twenty. Not to mention, she was a rare case. Most people were born without a left eye, or a right leg, and waited to meet someone without a right eye, or a left leg. However, Lucy was not missing a part of her body, but a sensation. What could possibly be the opposite of deafness? Lucy knew everyone around her believed her soulmate was dead, and she wondered about that too sometimes.

Nonetheless, there was one factor that didn’t let her hopes die: If her soulmate was dead, she would’ve gotten his defect. Aside from being deaf, there was nothing out of the ordinary with her body or senses. This meant there was a possibility her soulmate was still alive and just as anxious to meet her as she was to meet him. So, she kept hoping and praying that her fateful day would come soon.

“You are going to love this place, Lev. They have the best coffee.” Spoke Lucy in sign language as they approached Fairy Tail Cafe, a new coffee shop that just opened up a little outside of campus.

“I do hear a lot about it. Mira works here, right?” Said Levy, while using sign language.

“Yeah. Lisanna and Elfman too. Their grandpa owns the place.”

The family-owned business was really nice; a cozy little cafe bookstore that always seemed quite busy. Ever since its grand opening, Lucy would spend her afternoons reading books and drinking lattes in the corner.

The two girls sat down on a table after ordering drinks and started catching up. They had been best friends since middle school, but Levy studied in a different university thirty minutes away, which meant the girls couldn’t see each other as often as they’d like.

They had been talking for about an hour when the door opened. Lucy spotted a blue-furred (what?) dog. At first she wondered who would bring a dog in a cafe, until she looked up to see a tall man, about her age, with pink hair and sunglasses. Before she could even process, her stomach started feeling fluttery, and she could start to hear a distant cacophony that seemed to get closer by the second. It was annoying, and the blonde was starting to get a headache. After about thirty seconds, the sounds started dispersing, and her head felt lighter. It was then she realized that she could listen. She could hear the sound of the coffee machine, she could hear the sound of Mira’s voice as she stood behind the counter— She had a really sweet voice, and Lucy couldn’t believe she had never heard it before. She could hear the rustling of sheets as people reading books turned the pages. She could hear the soft pop music playing in the background, even though it was pretty low. She could hear the worried tone on Levy’s voice as she sat closer to Lucy to give her a hug.

“Lucy?” Levy was very confused. She had seen how Lucy suddenly covered her ears with the palms of her hands, and how she had started crying out of nowhere. “Is everything okay? Talk to me.” She spoke in sign language for Lucy.

“Y-yes.” She said hesitantly. “I can hear.” Her voice was a little incomprehensive. There were very few times where she had actually used it, after all. But she had been practicing her speech for about three years now, knowing that the time to meet her soulmate was possibly coming close. She knew how to say a fair amount of sentences, though she didn’t practice conversing with a lot of people, as she was self-conscious about her voice and let very few people hear her.

“You what!?” Levy stood up from her seat so fast the chair fell down, drawing people’s attention, including Mira’s, who looked over to them with concern. “Lucy can hear! She can hear!” She exclaimed in between sobs as Mira rushed to their table.

“She what!? Lucy, congrats! Who is it? Who’s the lucky man?”

But Lucy was too preoccupied looking at the pink haired man, who had taken off his glasses and looked at her with tears in his eyes. She stood up from her seat, walking over to him as he did the same. They stood there, staring at each other, for a while. Turns out the opposite of deafness was blindness, according to the universe. Neither party could believe it. She could listen. He could see. Finally, for the first time in their entire lives, they felt complete.

“Hi.” The guy finally said, with a grin that covered half of his face. Lucy decided she had never seen a more genuine and beautiful smile. “I’m Natsu.”

“Hi.” She beamed back. “I am Lucy.”

Natsu wondered why her speech was so peculiar for a split second, but then remembered how her friends were yelling about her being able to hear, so he guessed her defect was being deaf.

“Do you… want to get out of here?” He said, signaling to the door. “We can talk and get to know each other.” He talked while making gestures with his hands, hoping she understood.

Lucy nodded with a smile. She got back to her table to gather her things and say goodbye to her friends, who were smirking despite the tears in their eyes.

****

“You know sign language?” Asked Lucy while sitting next to Natsu on the bench in the park.

“I know a little bit. Do you understand people when they speak? Or would it be easier if I used gestures?” Natsu asked kindly, still trying his best to make comprehensive hand gestures.

“I read English. I understand a lot, but some things are confusing.”

Natsu nodded, and they stayed silent for a couple seconds until he had an idea.

“I know! What if I help you with your speech and you help me with different colors? I always wanted to know what they looked like.” He stated sheepishly.

****

“Yellow.” Said Lucy as she pointed to one of the throw pillows on her couch. After their fateful encounter, they had agreed on meeting the next day to start “coaching” each other. Lucy invited Natsu to her place for lunch and he had spent the entire afternoon teaching her new words and their pronunciation. Truth be told, he was learning words that he didn’t even know existed too.

After hours, they moved on to teach Natsu the different names for colors. He was fascinated to find out what the colors that he always heard people mention actually looked like. So far, he believed his favorite was red; it was vibrant, and never failed to catch his attention whenever he had seen it on his 28 hours of having vision.

“Wait, that’s the color of your hair.”

“Yeah! Oh, and pink.” She said as she pointed to his hair. “My favorite color.”

He always wondered what he looked like. His friends and family often described him and never forgot to tease him for his unusual hair color. He knew most people had brown, black, blonde, or red hair, so he didn’t know how to feel about his. When he saw himself on a mirror for the first time yesterday, he didn’t really like his hair color. But, suddenly, he didn’t think it was that bad anymore.

They spent hours every day teaching each other and hanging out, both really enjoying each other’s presence. They found out their favorite things to do were to watch television and walk around the lake, as these were experiences that they had never been able to enjoy to the fullest until now.

After a month of hanging out almost every single day, they decided to start dating. Even though they knew they were meant to be together, they wanted to take things slow and really get to know each other before making things official.

They couldn’t be happier. Lucy loved Natsu’s goofiness and happy-go-lucky personality. She also loved Happy, his guide dog, who really liked to mess with her and sometimes got on her nerves, but they shared a strong bond despite everything.

Natsu loved Lucy. There was no other way to describe it. In the short amount of time he had gotten to spend with her, he discovered how amazing she was. She was beautiful, and smart, and cheerful, and kind. He often wondered what he had done to deserve such a perfect soulmate, but he wasn’t complaining.

After a year of dating, Natsu had finally decided to pop the question.

“You ready, man?” Asked Gray, Natsu’s best friend… and worst enemy.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“You know she’s gonna say yes! What are you so worried about?”

“I don’t know! It’s just all so... nerve-racking. Didn’t you feel that way when you proposed to Juvia?”

“A little bit. But, I guess it was so unplanned I didn’t really have time to be nervous. You know I proposed a week after I met her.”

“Yeah.” Natsu chuckled at the memory. “I remember. I guess getting back your thumb really made you commit.”

“Hey.” Replied Gray with fake solemness. “Imagine living your whole life without a right thumb. It’s not pretty. She knew the struggle.”

Natsu chuckled as he adjusted his tie. The plan was to take Lucy to a fancy restaurant for a romantic, candlelit dinner. After that, he would drive them to their favorite lake where they would lay and stargaze for a while until he decided that it was finally time to propose.

****

After hours of getting ready, Lucy was finally satisfied with her look. Natsu always did random romantic things like these, but it never ceased to excite her. She wore a red satin v-neck dress with a skater skirt that reached just above her knees, paired with some open-toed silver heels. She was checking herself on the mirror when she heard her phone ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Luce! Whatcha doing?”

“Just finished getting ready. Are you on your way?”

“Yeah. I’m just a couple of blocks down. I’ll be there in two—”

Before he could finish the sentence, Lucy heard the sound of screeching tires and a loud, lingering beep noise.

“Natsu? Natsu!?” The call had disconnected, she knew that, but in her moment of panic she did not care for logic. “Please answer me, Natsu!” She sobbed into the phone fruitlessly.

After a while, she heard the sound of sirens passing by, but the noise started sounding farther and farther away as her vision got blurrier by the second, until all sound was gone, and all she could see were the shadows of things that were once full of color.

The world had turned dark once again.

@daydream-wannabewriter @theweiszguy

[superfreakerz]

TDDUP5

"Til Death Do Us Part"

Rated M for smut and heavy themes.

Immortal/Reincarnation AU.

Summary: There are immortals and those who reincarnate, but it's best to keep these things hidden. Lucy is attending college and meets Natsu, a mischievous boy with pink hair, a devilish smile, and a body that never ages.

Read earlier chapters on FF.net

Chapter 5

Smoothies

Lucy groaned as sunlight peeked through her curtains directly onto her face. Begrudgingly, she checked her phone for the time and was upset to find that she had to wake up in less than five minutes. Figuring there was no point in trying to sleep again, she forced herself out of bed.

The corners of Lucy's lips curled downwards into a heavy frown as she found nearly thirty unread texts from Levy. It was now Monday morning. The weekend had passed since Levy's friends sent her out of Fairy Tail. She was a sobbing mess after that. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Levy's texts, scared that they were all going to be angry sentiments about bringing up Juvia's speech-related quirk.

It wasn't that Lucy meant to offend Juvia. She was just genuinely surprised to hear someone talk in third person.

"I never should've went. I just lost my only friend."

With sluggish movements, Lucy finished getting ready for school. Each step closer to school caused her stomach to churn with anxiety. Even though the girl could avoid Levy's texts, she couldn't avoid seeing her in class. She had no choice but to face what happened.

Lucy stopped just outside of the classroom, taking a deep breath. Facing Levy was hard, but she couldn't just ditch class for the rest of the quarter. Swallowing thickly, the girl forced herself to push forward, entering the room.

Immediately, Levy's head whipped towards Lucy. The two girls made eye contact, their eyes wide. Lucy, feeling as though she was going to break down at any moment, tore her gaze away and glumly walked to a desk in the back, away from Levy and Jellal. There was no way she could just sit by them now that they hated her. With tears pricking her eyes, she picked up her pen and began to write, hoping that it would drown out her sorrow.

Once class ended, Lucy moved as quickly as she could to pack her things. She felt Levy's stare on her all throughout class. Even now she could tell that she was being stared at.

Grabbing all of her belongings, Lucy rushed out of the door without sparing Levy a glance. She took the biggest strides she could, trying to put as much distance as possible between them. Part of her expected- maybe even hoped- that Levy would call out to her or come rushing after her, but she didn't. If that wasn't a clear message, Lucy didn't know what was.

Now, she had to do it all over again in her math class. Wiping away the stray tear that managed to slip down her cheek during her walk, Lucy took a deep breath before entering the classroom. As usual, Natsu and Gray weren't there yet, and probably wouldn't be until right before class started.

Lucy glanced around the room, finding a table that only had one seat available. With a breath of relief, the girl sat there instead. Unfortunately, it was towards the front of the class, so she wouldn't be able to write without Aquarius catching her. But Lucy didn't care so long as she didn't have to sit by Natsu and Gray. That would've just been embarrassing.

Right before the bell rang, Natsu and Gray came stumbling in as usual. Lucy kept her gaze glued to her desk, not wanting to see them or be seen. Luckily, they went to the back of the room, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

"This is going to be one stressful quarter."

Natsu frowned, his onyx eyes boring into a head of gold sitting at the front of the class. Lucy was leaning her head on the palm of her hand, for once listening to Aquarius' lecture.

"Now I can't read her story," he thought, his frown deepening. It wasn't just that, though. He didn't like that the girl was sad, and he especially didn't like that it was because of his friends.

Last night was a total disaster. With Erza's interrogation, Juvia's snide remarks, and Gajeel's full-on yelling session, it was no wonder that Lucy ran out. Natsu felt bad for her. She didn't do anything wrong and she seemed like a nice person, she didn't deserve to be treated that way.

Natsu wished he had said something that night, but it was hard doing so when he knew why they were all so cautious to begin with. He felt that he couldn't say anything without trampling over their feelings by trudging up horrible memories. So, he silently watched as the girl ran out of Fairy Tail, clearly holding back tears.

Natsu also felt bad for Levy. This morning, she left for school without waiting for any of them. She hadn't spoken a single word to them either. None of them had ever witnessed her so angry before, they didn't know that she had a wrath that could burn all that came in contact with her.

Natsu couldn't imagine what is was like to lose a friend because of another. He knew he wouldn't have liked it, though. Glumly, he continued to stare at the back of Lucy's head, all the while wanting to cheer her up.

He didn't know what was motivating him to do so, but he had to try to fix things.

Once class ended, Lucy tiredly packed her things. Keeping her eyes awake during lecture was nearly impossible. All of the formulas and theories, it was all too much after a night of limited sleep.

Heading out the door, Lucy walked out of the building and onto campus. The University of Magnolia was a beautiful school paved with red bricks and surrounded by trees. There were also strange, geometric sculptures that, while Lucy couldn't understand their meanings, were pleasing to look at. Her favorite part of all, however, was the giant fountain that sat in the middle of campus.

Mid-step, Lucy suddenly felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist, gently pulling her to a stop. Turning her head, she was shocked to find Natsu was the one who stopped her. The corners of his lips were slightly tugged downwards into a frown and he struggled maintaining eye contact. He was nervous.

"Uhh, can we talk?" he asked.

Lucy looked away with a frown. "I don't know… I'm a little busy…"

"I'll buy you a smoothie if you want! One from that place you and Levy are always going to!"

Lucy studied the boy. He didn't seem to have any malicious intent. Not to mention that he wasn't one of the ones that were mean to her last night. Hesitantly, she slowly nodded.

"A-Alright. I can go for a smoothie."

The walk to the smoothie shop was uncomfortable. Neither of them said a single word or made any eye contact, walking too far apart to be considered friends. Hell, they were too far apart to even be considered acquaintances.

Once they reached the shop, Lucy ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie while Natsu ordered a green apple one. Lucy led the way to the table she always sat at with Levy. The fact that she believed she would never have another "smoothie-sesh" broke her heart.

"So… What exactly did you want to talk about?" Lucy meekly questioned, absentmindedly twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

Natsu frowned and looked away. "I wanted to talk about what happened last night."

"I said I was sorry, I-"

"I know. I actually wanted to apologize too. I'm sorry for not sticking up for you even though you didn't do anything. Erza and the others are just stubborn when it comes to… new people."

Lucy's eyes widened and her mouth parted. She wasn't expecting an apology. "O-Oh. Well, you don't have to apologize. You weren't the one that said anything mean."

"No, but I should've said something to them, especially that jerk Gajeel," Natsu said, scratching the back of his head. "I wanna make things right with you and Levy!"

"It's too late for that," Lucy mumbled. "She hates me now."

"You're way off on that!" Natsu said, giving her a wide grin. "You shoulda seen the way Levy yelled at everyone when you left! She's pretty pissed with everyone because she really wanted to introduce you to everyone and they blew it."

"Really?"

"'Course! Now c'mon! Text Levy and tell her to come here!"

"I-I can't do that!" Lucy cried. "I'm scared…"

"Scared?" Natsu repeated. "Of what? I already told you she ain't mad. What's there to be scared of?"

"I don't know… I guess I just don't want to cause more problems between Levy-chan and the others. She told me that you guys are like family to her. I don't want to do anything to mess that up…"

Natsu studied the girl. She was genuinely concerned about Levy's relationship with them even though they treated her terribly. Just how nice was this girl? Weren't mortals supposed to be evil forces not to be reckoned with? Did she really mean what she said?

Natsu was a good judge of character. He knew that Lucy was a nice person, but was she really that nice? To be able to care for someone that wronged her?

There were no signs of dishonesty in her features. Natsu grinned.

"She's really nice. Levy sure is good at finding good friends!"

"Here, I'll stay with you the whole time," Natsu assured with a grin. "And trust me, nothing will separate Levy and the others. We are a family, just like Levy said."

Lucy couldn't help but blush from the sincerity in his voice and the way his eyes locked onto hers. "O-Okay." Grabbing her phone, the girl nervously typed up a quick text, asking for Levy to meet her in their signature spot.

In the meantime, Natsu did his best to comfort Lucy. He could tell that she was still anxious about seeing Levy, so he made it his goal to make her laugh.

"So, I saw that you couldn't work on your story during math today," Natsu said with a crooked smirk.

Lucy flushed. "I still can't believe you've been reading my story this whole time. But yeah, I didn't want Aquarius to catch me. She scares me."

"She scares me too. Just like Erza."

Lucy giggled. "You said something like that last night too."

"Because Erza is that scary," Natsu said, his skin paling. "Anyways, you gotta sit by me again on Wednesday. I gotta keep reading to find out what happens next! I'm hooked!"

Lucy's cheeks turned red. He wanted her to sit by him again? Could it be that she was making a new friend? Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Well now that I know you're invading my privacy, I won't be writing anymore in that class!"

"What!? But you have to! I need to know if Haru comes back for Elie!"

"Well you're never going to find out!"

"Oh yeah? I'll wait until the story is published if I have to!"

Lucy blushed again. She really had to learn how to keep her feelings in check around Natsu. Something about him was dangerous. She couldn't contain herself.

"You… You think that my story is good enough to be published?" she asked, her lips ghosting a smile.

Natsu gave her a face-splitting grin. "Well yeah! It's the only story that managed to keep me interested enough to want to read more!"

Tears pricked Lucy's eyes. It was one of the best compliments she had ever received, one that had an effect on her that Natsu would never know.

"Does this mean that if I didn't have to deal with reincarnation, my stories would be good enough to be published?" she wondered, her feelings overwhelming. For lifetimes, she had always hidden behind her reincarnation as an excuse. Deep down, she believed that even if she wasn't reincarnated, her stories would never be good enough to make it out in the real world.

And yet, a boy that she barely knew was slowly giving her the confidence she had been missing for lifetimes.

"Can we… Can we be friends?" Lucy asked, her face set ablaze and her voice meek. It was her first time since her first life that she had asked someone to be her friend. What happened with Levy happened out of nowhere, and she thought it was just a fluke. She thought that making friends was too messy with her reincarnation, and that it was a betrayal to all of the dear friends she made in her first life.

But she didn't care about that when it came to Natsu.

Natsu's mouth parted as he stared at Lucy. It was clear that she was embarrassed, not used to this sort of thing. She probably didn't have that many friends to begin with. He couldn't see why, though. She was a really nice girl, and also pretty funny.

She was also really weird. But in a good way.

Natsu grinned. "Duh! I'm all fired up!"

Lucy gave him a dazzling smile, one that made his heart beat a little faster. Natsu ducked his face into his scarf to hide his blush, hoping that she couldn't see it. Luckily, Lucy seemed to be focused on something else, her gaze locked on the entrance where Levy was entering.

Levy was shocked to find Natsu sitting with Lucy. Dismissing it, she grabbed a chair from another table and dragged it towards theirs since Natsu was sitting in her signature seat. With a frown, she faced her dear friend.

"Lu-chan! I'm sorry about what everyone did last night!" Levy apologized, tears immediately welling in her eyes. "I want you to know I don't agree with anything they said! Especially Gajeel! I don't know what's wrong with him!"

"I know you don't agree with them," Lucy assured. Tears were brimming her eyes as well, happy that things were alright between them. "Well, I do now, at least. Natsu told me."

"Natsu?" Levy repeated, turning towards the said boy.

"Yeah. He asked me to get a smoothie with him so that we could talk about what happened. He told me about how you stood up for me. And I'm sorry too, Levy-chan."

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong!"

"I did! I shouldn't have avoided you in class today! I'm sure that hurt your feelings…"

Levy tackled Lucy in a tight hug, causing her chair to fall back and the two of them landing on the floor with a loud thud. They didn't seem to mind, though. Instead, they both smiled, glad that everything was back to normal.

Natsu chuckled at the sight of the two of them hugging things out on the floor. They didn't seem to notice, or perhaps care, that everyone else in the store was giving them funny looks. All that mattered was their friendship.

"So what are you going to do about the others?" Lucy asked, sitting back in her seat.

Levy huffed. "I'm not sure yet. I'm not on speaking terms with any of them at the moment."

"I don't want to ruin your bond with them, Levy-chan."

The petite girl sighed. "Don't worry, you won't. We all have fights sometimes, but we make up eventually."

"That's good," Lucy said with a smile. "Life is too short to be fighting with your friends forever!"

Natsu and Levy awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of their heads and replying in unison, "Y-Yeah, life is too short!" Levy continued with, "And we've only got one life!"

This time, Lucy awkwardly chuckled. "Y-Yeah! Just the one life!"

As the sun was beginning to set, the trio threw away their trash before heading outside of the shop.

"I should get going now," Lucy said, smiling at her friends.

"Us too," Levy replied.

"Do you two live near each other or something?"

Natsu and Levy shared a quick glance. In truth, they lived in Fairy Tail's basement, along with the rest of the immortals. But they couldn't tell that to Lucy, of course.

"Yeah, we're in the same direction," Natsu lied. He didn't like lying, especially to his new friend, but it had to be done.

"That's cool," Lucy replied. "Well then, I'll see you guys on Wednesday! Bye!"

"Later!"

With that, Levy and Natsu began their walk back to Fairy Tail.

"So, what made you want to talk to Lu-chan?" Levy asked, breaking the silence.

Natsu crossed his arms behind his head and shrugged. "I don't know. She seemed nice and she didn't deserve what happened. And I wanted to apologize too."

"For what? Unlike that idiot, Gajeel, you didn't say anything stupid."

"No, but I didn't stand up for her either."

Levy smiled at him. "Thanks for making this happen, Natsu. I'm not sure if Lu-chan would've talked to me again if it wasn't for you. Even if she wasn't upset with me, she's very stubborn when it comes to opening up and making friends. I'm sure she considered leaving me be and continuing about with her life."

"Really?" Natsu asked, arching a brow. It was kind of hard to believe after Lucy had asked him to be her friend after their second time hanging out together.

"Mhmm. Truthfully, I don't know that much about her. I probably know just as much as you do, and you've only really talked to her today."

"Do you think she's hiding something like the others do?" Natsu asked, frowning.

Levy cupped her chin. "I wouldn't say that she's hiding something. More like she doesn't want to bring it up." After being an immortal and living life for so long, it became easier to pick up on other people's feelings. "Whatever it is, I'm not worried about it. I'm sure she'll tell us soon enough."

Natsu nodded, though really he didn't know. He didn't know Lucy well, he didn't have a clue as to when she would open to him.

"Anyways," he began, "when are you goin' to talk to Gajeel?"

Levy's face scrunched up in irritation as she haughtily replied, "Whenever he stops being a stubborn jerk."

"You know he's just trying to look out for everyone in his own, stupid way, right?"

"I know, but he doesn't have to be so stubborn about it!"

Natsu chuckled. Levy only got annoyed when she was talking about Gajeel. Their relationship was amusing, amusing enough for him to briefly wonder what kind of relationship he would have with a girl.

"I would say don't be too harsh on him, but I'd rather you give that bastard hell," Natsu said, his lips forming a smirk.

"Trust me, I will," Levy assured.

Reaching Fairy Tail, they saw their usual friend group sitting at their table in the back, staring them down.

"Where were you guys?" Gajeel asked.

Levy gave him and the rest the cold shoulder, deciding to go down to the basement. Natsu stayed with them.

"We were hangin' out with Lucy," he answered nonchalantly. He could see everyone whipping their heads towards him.

"Why were you hanging out with her?" Erza questioned. She gave him a hard stare.

Natsu only shrugged. "Because she's interesting. And I had to make sure you guys didn't ruin Levy's friendship with her."

"That was the point!" Gajeel shouted.

"Maybe for you, but not for me. I don't mind bein' around mortals or anything. And if Levy trusts her, then so do I. You guys really gotta have more faith in her. She's the smartest one here, you really think she wouldn't be able to tell if someone was a threat to her?"

"She's too trusting!"

"Nah. You guys are just too stubborn."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I actually agree with Ash for Brains for once," Gray chimed in. "You guys literally chased Levy's friend out of here in tears."

"Because she deserved it!" Juvia argued. "She's a Love Rival!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "You gotta stop being so jealous. How many times do I have to tell you, there are no love rivals. I'm not saying you have to be friends with her, but just stop acting so harshly. I mean it, Juvia."

The girl crossed her arms with a huff. "Fine. Juvia will stop being mean to Love Riv- Lucy. But Juvia will not be friends with her!"

"You guys are idiots!" Gajeel yelled. "Are we really going to risk Levy's safety over some naïve friendship? Mortals are the enemy!"

"Perhaps it's time for us to rethink that notion," Jellal countered. "Makarov is a mortal, but we trust him inexplicably, correct?"

"Well, that's different!"

"Who's to say that Lucy isn't a trustworthy mortal as well? Makarov isn't the only mortal we've known that is trustworthy. Fairy Tail itself was built with Mavis and her mortal friends who wanted to protect her and others like her. There are plenty of good mortals, some of us have just been too blind to see it."

Erza tensed, knowing that he was also referring to her. "Do you trust her, Jellal?" She trusted his senses more than anyone else's. If he trusted the mortal, she would try to do the same.

"I do," the boy answered with a nod.

The redhead sighed. "Alright. Then I suppose we shall make amends tomorrow." It wasn't going to be easy to change her ideals, but she would try her best. She would still keep a close eye on Lucy, but she would tone it down.

There was a loud slam as Gajeel shot out of his seat, sending it crashing backwards on the hardwood floor. His face was etched with fury. "Screw that. You guys are blind idiots. You'll see. That mortal is hiding something."

Natsu glared at Gajeel. "Grow up already, Lug Nuts. Everyone but you already agreed to lighten up."

"And you guys will regret it. You shouldn't trust a mortal. I'm going to uncover the truth about that girl and show you guys that I'm right. I ain't apologizin' for shit."

With that, Gajeel stalked away from the group, down to the basement. Natsu had hoped he could make everyone onboard with being friends with Lucy, but this was a pretty good start.

Lucy smiled, staring up at her ceiling and holding her phone to her ear. Once Levy got home, they agreed to talk on the phone. It was their first time having a real conversation on the phone, and so far it was proving to be fun.

"So, are you going to tell me about your story since you're letting Natsu read it?" Levy asked. Lucy could practically see her wiggling her brows.

"I'm not letting him read it. He just started reading it on his own apparently," Lucy corrected.

"You could at least give me a sneak peek! Since I'm not going to be your first reader and all anymore."

"Ugh, fine. Well, the story is about a couple of wizards who join a wizarding guild and go on fun adventures together."

"Okay, now you have to let me read it! You know I love adventure stories!"

Lucy laughed. "You're going to have to wait! Same with Natsu!"

"At least it's even," Levy replied. "Speaking of Natsu, I'm glad that he fixed things between us."

"Me too. That was really nice of him."

"One could even call it cute."

Lucy rolled her eyes and groaned, her cheeks turning red. "Quit trying to set me up, Levy-chan!"

The said girl snickered. "Sorry, sorry! I can't help it! I've just been dying to go no a double date with you!"

"Well too bad! I am not dating!"

"Hey, Lu-chan, you don't have to tell me or anything, but is there a reason you're so against dating? I can understand if it's to focus on school or something, but you're really smart and you said you always get good grades, I think you can relax a bit."

A frown graced Lucy's face. "It's not that…"

"Did you have a horrible past relationship?"

Lucy thought about it. She wouldn't say that her past relationship was bad. She couldn't see it going very far as she believed they were better off as friends, but it was fun while it lasted before she died.

"I wouldn't say that," Lucy answered. "I just… I don't know how I'm supposed to act. I don't have much experience, so I guess it scares me."

It wasn't the full truth, but the answer was good enough. At least she didn't lie.

"I can understand that," Levy replied. "Thanks for telling me."

Lucy's cheeks turned red. "I may not date, but I do think some boys are cute. Remember when you asked me if there were cute boys in my math class?"

"Oh yeah! You said there were a few, if I remember correctly."

"I did. Well, the ones I was talking about were actually Natsu and Gray. This was before I even knew that they were your friends. How crazy is that?"

"Oh, so that's your type, huh?" Levy asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You like the lean, tone guys."

Lucy thought back to her first boyfriend. He did fit the description. "Huh. I guess that is my type. I never noticed. And your type is tall, bulky, punkish looking guys."

Levy laughed. "Yep! Anyways, who do you think is cuter?"

"Levy-chan! That's a weird question!"

"No it isn't! Everyone has their own tastes! I would say Gajeel is the cutest, Juvia would say Gray is the cutest, and I'm assuming you would say Natsu is the cutest?"

"H-How did you know!?"

Levy laughed again. "I could just tell. When I saw you two together, you looked like you were having a good time, so I kinda thought you might've been into him."

"Well I'm not into him! I just think he's cute! And nice! And funny."

"You sure you're not into him?"

Lucy blushed from head to toe. "I don't even know him, Levy-chan!"

"So?" the other girl replied. "Attraction happens fast, and some researchers say that you can tell from your first meeting if someone suits you or not."

"Don't bring science into this! A-Anyways, I have to head to bed now. I have class tomorrow."

"Aww. Okay then. Goodnight, Lu-chan!"

"Night, Levy-chan!"

Right before Lucy end the call, Levy said, "Have a sweet dream about you and Natsu! Bye!" And then she hung up.

Lucy groaned, covering her face with a pillow. It was embarrassing talking about that sort of thing, but it was also really fun at the same time. She knew she didn't like Natsu or anything, but it was fun to talk about.

She wasn't looking for anything romantic. She had just decided to expand her friend circle, after all. But maybe one day, she would let herself try again at relationships. And to her expense, a certain pink-haired boy popped into her head.

"Levy-chan is making me think all sorts of weird things."

Sneak peek of chapter six for the reviews I got:

Lucy flinched from his harsh words but turned away from him and smiled at the rest of the group. The only way to beat a bully was to completely ignore them, taking away their power. In the corner of her eye, she could see Gajeel huff, probably because she was still smiling instead of running out in tears like she did last time.

[girlbossminerva]

Which of your fics...

Tagged by the lovely @xnovamore

…did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it got?

Golden ichor coursing through her veins (Cana/Mirajane. Rating M)

I never expect anything I write to get an audience, but to me this fic does have a lot of hits yet only 9 kudos, which wouldn't bother me as much if it wasn't because I really love how I wrote it.

…got a better reaction than you expected?

Traditions (Natsu/Gray/Lucy/Erza. Rating G)

I thought it was too simplistic, but apparently people loved it and now it's my third fic with more kudos. Also, it has my favorite comment that someone has left on my work.

I won’t say I don’t dislike you (Gray/Natsu. Rating G)

This is a drabble i thought of when listening to the Hercules soundtrack and somehow it’s one of my fics with more hits and kudos.

…is your funniest?

Come on let me hold you (Erza/Juvia/Lucy. Rating G.)

And It could have been a worse beginning (Gray/Natsu. Rating G)

When it comes to humor I never know if I'm doing it right, but I personally think these two are very funny.

…is your darkest or angstiest?

How would I speak if the song left me? (Rating T)

Forgot to share it on tumblr but it's a collection of ficlets based on Florence + the machine songs that have dark or deep themes. Check it out, there's patricide :D (but also mentions of child abuse and eating disorders, so be warned)

…is your absolute favorite?

Behind closed doors (Erza/Mirajane. Rating T)

I LOVE MY TELENOVELA AU. I wrote it out of spite towards the fact that Mexico doesn't care enough about the media we produce to put on the effort and also after finding out there's been exactly 2 WLW COUPLES in all our history of telenovelas.

…was easiest to write?

What is love? (Rogue/Sting. Rating G)

It's just my fluffy stingue musings and I wrote it in less than an hour plus the time it took to edit.

We could last it all (Lisanna/Natsu/Lucy. Rating G)

The hardest part of this one was picking the title.

Now my only wish is that our plots may intertwine (Natus/Gray/Lucy/Erza. Rating G)

I wrote the first draft very fast and the rest of the time was just editing.

…was hardest to write?

All vampires stay in Magnolia (Natsu/Gray/Lucy/Erza. Rating T)

This is my first multi chapter fic and is proving to be hard to write since it doesn't actually have much plot.

Afterlife is less awful with you (Lisanna/Juvia. Rating G)

I had an idea, changed it twice, changed the pairing and then was supposed to write a second chapter but I don't even know what to make of it. Also I rewrote the first chapter.

…has your favorite lines/exchange/paragraph? (Share it!)

From blinding in “how would I speak if the song left me”:

She’s drowning now, drowning in red and black and white. There is a force she’s familiar with, one she had passed by before, taking charge of her burning flesh and pointing at the man who created her.

The chains break. Air fills her lungs.

From “For a moment i became air”:

A gale is chaos, though that doesn't mean it can't be endured. It's the moments of self-doubt that you must overcome. It's what happened to my head after you kissed me.

…have you re-read the most?

Come on let me hold you.

And I think also Performance (Erza/Mirajane. Rating T).

…would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time?

Darling (Juvia/Lucy. Rating G)

The first Fairy Tail fic I wrote since I was in middle school.

And Come on let me hold you.

Because I think that they sum up what I like to write about pretty well: gays and fluff.

…are you most proud of?

will it wash away this jet-black feeling?

I'm not linking it because it's not ready, I still have much to redo and figure out. It's an original story that I haven't finished, but it makes me proud because it was the first time ever that i wrote 11 000 words

I don't know that many people so I'm only tagging these darlings:  @crystallos-sol @shadowfairyglitter @sunsofmars

And whoever wants to do it!

[colorofyourhair]

The Tedious Task of Glue and Fringe

Prompt:

Prompt Rating: K+

Note: As tumblr is the only site that will let me list an individual rating per chapter I’ll rate them as content demands. However the larger compilation on both FFN and AO3 are rated M.

Also posted here:

FFN

AO3

Erza fumbled around in her bag for her set of keys. Her fingers had brushed over the jagged edges twice already. She knew she was stalling. Jellal only smiled and waited. He was patient. Too patient. Why was he even here with her instead of anyone else? Perhaps a woman who didn't clunk around town in a junker of a car? Or a woman with a better kept yard or a bigger house or a kid who was supposed to be asleep but was probably lurking in the hallway while his babysitter's back was turned?

“Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice drowning out the buzz of her fading porch light.

“Uh –” Erza's hand closed around the set of keys and she finally dragged them from her bag. “Listen, you don't have to do this, you know? He's – he's a lot of work. I'm afraid I wasn't a very stern mother when he was younger. We were both young. Natsu is...” Erza trailed off. She didn't know where the line between fair warning and disparagement stood. Natsu was her son and she loved him but she wasn't blind to his wild outbursts. “I haven't brought home a guy since he was in diapers. I don't now how he'll react.”

“You don't think he'll be asleep this late?”

Erza's lips flattened into a line. “He's awake.”

“I can take it, Erza. I already love all the parts of you I've met.” His grin was easy and Erza flushed. She didn't know how to handle someone who gave so freely. Her arms were full but she wondered if she left his too empty.

“Right,” she breathed. Erza slid the key into the deadbolt and unlocked the door. The house was quiet – too quiet. She led Jellal through the dark front room back to the kitchen where a sixteen-ish girl sat with her open laptop and a backpack filled with books. “How was he?”

“Typical Natsu,” Juvia said brightly. “He was calmer after dinner, though. I put him in bed but you know how that goes.”

Erza laughed lightly and left her purse on the counter. “I do know exactly how that goes. I'll PayPal you for tonight when the invoice comes through.”

“Thanks, Erza.”

“No, thank you. You're the only sitter who hasn't run away screaming.”

“He's a scrappy kid but he's a sweetheart once you get to know him.” Juvia slid her laptop back into her backpack and stood. “I'm going away this weekend but that's it for the rest of this month.” She glanced over at Jellal and her cheeks turned pink. “I mean, if you needed more nights... or whatever.”

“I'll let you know,” Erza said with a smirk. Juvia waved them both off and Erza waited for the front door to shut before turning back to Jellal. “She's the best sitter I've ever had.”

“I take it you've had many?”

“Oh, yeah,” Erza sighed. She crossed the kitchen and slid her arms around his middle.

“I –” Jellal never got to finish his thought.

“What's this?” a small voice said from behind them. Erza closed her eyes briefly and sucked in a deep breath before releasing Jellal. She stepped around him and tugged on his hand so he'd follow.

“Natsu, this is Jellal.”

Natsu stood in the half-lit archway that led back into the front room and hallway. He was clad in his favorite pajamas printed all over with fire breathing dragons. His hair stuck out everywhich way – he'd obviously not bothered to comb it after his bath. The sight would've been cute if it weren't for the glare plastered on his face.

“Did you bring me the glue and newspaper?” Natsu demanded, not even acknowledging Jellal.

“I – what?” Erza stuttered.

“Glue, mom. And newspaper. For my project. You promised!”

Erza's stomach dropped from her body and squelched to the floor. His project. Of course. “I completely forgot,” Erza whispered. She'd crossed a line and forgot her son's craft supplies to... what? Go on a date? Jesus her priorities were fucked. She was officially That Mom.

“This is your fault!” Natsu said darkly, pointing at Jellal. To his credit, Jellal didn't speak. He simply squeezed Erza's hand and turned to her.

“I should go.” His eyes weren't as judgemental as they should've been, in Erza's opinion. She'd have deserved it. “I'll call you, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Erza whispered. She didn't follow him to the door and she didn't see him out. Instead, she knelt on the floor in front of Natsu to tidy the messy points of his hair. “I'm sorry about your piñata. We'll go together tomorrow and you can pick everything out yourself.”

Natsu's face fell. “But you're working all day tomorrow and at night,” he whispered. “The calendar says so. It'll just be me and grandma.”

“Then I'll go on my lunch and leave it here on the table for you, okay? I won't forget.”

“I'm sorry about your boyfriend,” he said even lower than a whisper. “I shouldn't have yelled.”

“It's okay. You were right. I forgot and it's entirely my fault. I apologize.” Erza's heart was in pieces. Natsu might have been a wild, impulsive little boy but he wasn't malicious. He simply acted on whatever emotion was loudest in his head at the time. Natsu could remember detailed maps of their neighborhood and town, he could perfectly recite the calendar she taped to the fridge every month, and he could remember every single ingredient in just about any given sauce she made in the kitchen – but he was bound to his emotions and impulses. Tieing his shoes or combing his hair or remembering mundane things like sharpening his pencils escaped him easily.

“I'm still sorry.” He suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her neck. Erza stood and brought him up with her.

“Let's get to bed, okay? Tomorrow will be another day. I promise I won't mess up again.”

Natsu yawned and his fingers tangled in her hair. “You don't mess up, mom. Not really.” His words were sweet but she knew they came from the biased heart of a child.

“Oh, honey,” Eileen said with a sigh. “This isn't an issue of faults. You forgot. It was a human thing to do.” She reached over and tucked a stray wisp of hair back into her daughter's bun. “You're doing your best.”

“I forgot my kid's stuff because I was on a date, mom,” Erza stated firmly. “That's heinous.”

“No, you forgot Natsu's stuff because you have a million little things on your plate and one of them was bound to fall off. You're only human, my love. Go easy on yourself.”

“I can't go easy.” Erza pulled a soda can from the refrigerator and popped it open. “He's still a kid and I disappointed him.”

“Listen to me.” Eileen took the soda can and set aside. She covered Erza's hands with her own. “We are a family of hard things. We do those hard things and we do them well.” Erza opened her mouth but Eileen shook her head. “Not perfect, Erza. Well. You were very young when Natsu was born and look at this life you've made. You work at the hospital and moonlight at an overnight clinic. There's nothing wrong with any of that except that heap of scrap metal in your driveway.” She smiled. “And even the car's been handled.”

“It'll be handled at the end of the month when I have the cash for a down payment.”

“Details, details,” Eileen whispered. “You've put yourself through college and work two jobs. Honestly, Erza, you had a date. So what?”

“Yeah,” Erza said under her breath. “Had. I doubt I'll hear from him again.” She knew she was being overly dramatic but it made her feel better.

“If he's worth your time, you will.” Eileen stepped back and looked over the grocery bags filled with newspapers, balloons, glue, and brightly colored tissue paper. “Is this for Natsu's project? Should I look into making a piñata before he comes home or does he know what he's doing?”

Erza laughed and gathered her bag and soda. “I'd recommend at least one YouTube tutorial before he gets home. Natsu loves to say he knows how to do a thing but he's really just winging it.”

“I'll figure it out.”

“If he gets too jumpy about it, just take him to the park. The piñata isn't actually due until next week. He's just really excited about it.”

“What time will you be home?” Eileen pushed the bags aside and took a seat at the table.

“Probably five-ish.”

“Erza –”

“Don't start, mom. It's just until I can get a new car. I'll cut back on the overnight shifts when things aren't so rocky.” Eileen smiled at Erza and shook her head.

“You're too much like me. Call your guy between shifts. At least promise me that.”

“I promise,” Erza muttered on her way out the door.

She didn't keep her promise – but she didn't have to. Jellal texted her at seven-thirty and she agreed to meet him at midnight on her meal break.

The clinic was quiet for the most part. Thursdays weren't the busiest nights compared to Fridays and Saturdays. That wasn't her problem, though. For the first time in the last several weeks, Erza had two days off in a row from both her jobs.

At twelve-oh-five, Erza slipped out the front door of the clinic and found Jellal shivering in his jacket at the far end of the parking lot.

“You're really doing the work, aren't you?” she asked with a laugh. Erza let him pull her against him. The euphoria he always brought with him pushed everything else out of her head.

“It's worth it.” He ducked his head and left a warm kiss on her lips. “I'm sorry about last night.”

“Oh, it's not your fault. It's mine.” She grinned up at him and pulled on the front of his jacket so she could absorb the heat. “For what it's worth, he's sorry for yelling.”

“He's a kid. He doesn't have to apologize.”

“Maybe –” Erza bit her lip and tried to dial back her impulse to make weekend plans with him but failed. “I don't work tomorrow or Saturday. Maybe we could have a take two? Natsu reacts better to planned things. He's got school tomorrow and Saturday afternoon might very well be a mess of papier-mâché –”

“I didn't know you were into crafting,” he said with a smile and another kiss on the apple of her cheek.

“I'm not. Natsu wanted to make a piñata for his heritage project.” Erza flushed in embarrassment. “We, uh, don't have a serviceable relationship with his dad's family so I'm relying on the internet to help us out with it.”

“Piñatas are easy. I've made plenty. It's just messy and tedious.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. My grandmother used to make us the big ones for our birthdays every year. If Natsu wants help I think I can swing a smaller one for his project.”

“Would you really?” Erza breathed.

“Of course! I mean, if he wants. I don't want to impose.”

“I'll bring it up but I'm pretty sure he'll explode all over the kitchen. He's super excited about it.”

“I'd be happy to help, even if my motivation is a little selfish.”

“Selfish?” Jellal's hands slid over her shoulders and his palms cupped her cheeks.

“I can't continue see you or get closer to you without making peace with Natsu. He's a part of you and your life. I don't want the spare bits of you that are cut off from everything else. I've had that for the last four months and I'm here for the rest. I don't care if it's messy or hard.”

“That's – that's a lot, Jellal,” Erza whispered. Her heart raced but she needed to be sure he understood. “This is where things get complicated. This is where it's not so easy for me to just let you go if things don't work out. It won't be just me getting hurt anymore.”

“Then maybe we should concentrate on not having to let go.”

“You're crazy, you know that?”

“So I've been told.” He kissed her in the yellow light of the parking lot and Erza didn't notice the flecks of snow in her hair until they melted in the warmer air of the clinic.

Scraps of newspaper littered the kitchen. Natsu stood on his chair and loomed over Jellal's shoulder as he demonstrated how to cut fringe into rolls of the thin tissue paper. The balloons and cones had been covered already by Natsu and Eileen, and all that still needed to be done was the decoration. Erza watched her normally hyperactive son slowly and carefully apply the fringe layer after layer.

When the piñata was finished Jellal hung it from a coat hanger in the doorway.

“I wouldn't touch it until the day you take it to school.”

“Do you think the glue will be dry by Wednesday?”

“For sure,” Jellal said with a smile. “It's just best to leave it alone until then. The paper fringe is delicate.”

“Wow,” Natsu whispered, gazing up at the yellow and orange piñata. “I bet nobody in my class will have something as awesome as this!”

“Why don't you go wash all that glue off your hands, okay?” Erza said, gathering the trash from the table into a bag. “I ordered dinner.”

“Awesome!” Natsu belted, taking off down the hallway. Erza exhaled heavily and tied off the bag. She could tell he'd been bottling up his excitement all day for the tedious tast of glueing fringe and would explode any minute.

“That went okay, right?” Jellal's voice came from just over her shoulder. He took the trash bag from her hand and set it aside.

“It did. I'm – thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being patient with him. For offering in the first place.” Erza's fingers closed in the front of his shirt. “For being patient with me.”

“I'm not in a rush, Erza,” he said quietly. “Just don't shut me out when things get hard. I can do the hard stuff.”

Erza's heart skipped a beat and she stared up at him. Her mother's words tangled with his in her mind.

'We are a family of hard things. We do those hard things and we do them well.'

“Erza?”

She blinked and shook her head. “Sorry,” she whispered. Finally she smiled. “I can do the hard stuff too. It's nice to think I might not have to do it alone anymore.”

When he kissed her it didn't last nearly as long as she wished. Natsu came tearing back down the hallway just as the doorbell announced dinner had arrived.

[pan-princess-levy]

morning light and twisted sheets

pairing(s): luviana (lucy heartfilia/juvia lockser/cana alberona), cana-centric; gajevy(gajeel redfox/levy mcgarden), mentioned; gratsu (gray fullbuster/natsu dragneel), mentioned; sildarts (silver fullbuster/gildarts clive), mentioned (little bit of cana's background in my fic "the fairy tail chat fic no one asked for", as well as some study over the relationships for the most important people in her life her siblings, her biological and adoptive parents, her beloved lucy and juvia. written for the anon who kindly said my headcanons are bullshit. enjoy!) lazy mornings were, by far, cana's favorite. it had been so since she remembered herself. first it was with her mother - the two of them would curl together in bed and read stories and play with the old, tattered tarot cards. she didn't remember much from the brief three years she spent at the orphanage - or whatever the time between mourning her mother (why did she have to leave?) and moving in with levy's new family (would they even like me?) was. there were small snipets in the back of her mind, though - they would surface from time to time, on her father-daughter lunches with girldarts or on levy's 'pamper cana' days. (she could remember the late sunday mornings, hidden under the sheets so the caretakers wouldn't notice them skipping the visit to the church, and levy's muffled laugher next to her) living with the dragneels was truly something to behold. there were so many people, so much energy... (some days, cana truly wondered how the house hadn't exploded yet). sometimes, where they had nothing to do - weekends of holidays or even random days - she would drag her little siblings on their parents' bed. natsu would jump around and laugh and start a pillow fight, levy would sit in the corner, shy as always, until either of them (or both) dragged her into the fight. (and then igneel would come with his roaring laugher and tickle them to tears, and esme would stay by the door and shake her head until her husband pulled her in while zeref questioned the reason of his existence and dodged the pillows natsu threw at him in the same time.) (there weren't any mornings back then, when she was too busy trying to keep her grades up, trying to smile and laugh, trying to not fall apart. there were levy's gentle, pure hands, holding her hair back while she puked the content of her stomach after another night of drinking until she barely knew her name, there was natsu's voice, shaking and trying to convince her everything would be alright, sweaty hands gripping her shoulders to keep her from collapsing into the toilet. they didn't understand. she hoped they never would.) (they both did, her sweet little siblings, and she hoped she helped them just as they helped her) when they finally moved out and brought that home, together, the three of them, nothing changed. sure, it was apartment instead of house, it was smaller, they didn't have separate rooms, with thinner walls, with only one bathroom they had to share, but it worked for them. cana would spend her free mornings lounging on their old, slightly torn couch and watch her siblings - natsu would steal levy's coffee and taunt her while she chased them around, knocking furniture they bought ("chairs don't by themselves!" "neither does coffee!") until she got back her precious treat (natsu broke five mugs until they learned their lesson when the last one - apparently a gift, with cats drawn over it - broke their sister to tears), natsu would whine for food and then proceed to destroy the box with the holy honey nut cheerios unless the requested food was provided, levy would curl in the small corner of the couch by cana's legs and read her book of choice for the day. it was loud, it was dangerous, but cana loved it. then levy moved out because it was gajeel's twenty-first birthday and the damn sap decided to be a damn sap and ask her and how could she say no, they were so in love it was disgusting. (the boy was a lucky bastard, with someone like precious levy, and he knew it.) and then natsu moved out because gray finally bought an apartment of his own so his dad and girldarts would have his dad's flat all for themselves (she didn't want to know what the two of them did there, damn it, asshole or no he was her father!) and natsu had been ass over elbow into gray since damn middle school. and when cana finally thought she had this sweet, sweet apartment all for herself, juvia and lucy decided to come. she had whined and protested, but everyone and their mother knew how happy she had been to have the two people most precious to her in the world share their living space and their life with her. the sun shone brightly in their shared bedroom through the open window, but cana couldn't stand up to close it even if she wanted to. instead she rested her head on the pillows and tightened her arms slightly over her precious ones. lucy was on her left, her golden head resting on cana's shoulder, one leg draped over her own. her face was peaceful, rosy lips pulled into a gentle smile, thick lashes almost touching her cheeks. her hands were lightly resting on cana's hip, her soft olive skin much lighter than cana's own dark brown one, with its pale scars and freckles. for a morning person, lucy didn't seem to mind sleeping in. juvia was in similar position on her right. her legs, however, were tightly wrapped around cana's. her left hand was gently holding cana's arm as her right sprawled over the taller woman's abdomen. smile curled the edges of her light pink lips as she sleepily murmured something in korean, too quiet for cana to understand, and nuzzled closer. the sun danced on top of her head and cana made a mental note to buy some more hair dye later - both the blue and the bleach were starting to wear off, showing the dark brown natural color. just a little bit more, cana thought for herself as she closed her eyes. her arms tightened a little again, pulling both her lovers closers. they could sleep some more.

[ejm513]

UNDERSTANDING JUVIA

It is no secret that I am a gruvia fan, in fact gruvia is my OTP and Juvia is one of my favorite Fairy Tail characters. So it always saddens me when I am perusing the gruvia tag (as I do daily) and I see hate not only for the ship but for Juvia. Now I am in no way saying you must like the ship or Juvia-far from it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and everyone has their own taste when it comes to what ships and what characters’ appeal to them, and I respect that. Not only that but I love open and constructive conversations about why we like or dislike a certain character or ships. Some of these negative posts are simply nasty and cruel. I understand this is the internet and people can be very vicious, I’m not that naïve. This post is not about chastising those who have a different opinion from me, because I think there’s enough of that.

Instead I’m going to try and look deeper into my favorite character, Juvia, to try and get a better understanding why she behaves the way she does. This is not to excuse some of her behavior (because I agree it can sometimes go too far), but trying to understand why she’s the way she is. Please note that I am not a profession psychologist, nor have I studied it beyond a class in high school and personal curiosity. This is just my view on Juvia’s character and is pure speculation. This was written just for fun (and to wake up my brain after I took a nap so I can continue reading a novel in German).

Okay, are we ready? Let’s do this!!

The best place to start is from the beginning. This is tricky, as there is not much known about Juvia’s past (at least that I’m aware of). However there are a few things we can infer. Like many of the main characters of Fairy Tail, she probably has a dead parent, no parents or absentee parents. I’m leaning more towards having no parents, as I remember in a manga spin off about Gray’s journey to Fairy Tail, she was heading to a relative (I think it was her Uncle). We know for certain that she did not have friends growing up and was bullied and excluded because of her powers. This means she had limited interactions with children her age, and that interaction was negative.

This did not give her a chance to socialize properly, and this is where I think the biggest problem stems from.

There are certain people I know who for one reason or another did not get a lot of socialization with children growing up, and they’re… well they’re a little different. I don’t mean that in a cruel or mean way it’s just true. They’re not as skilled in reading other people’s body language and emotions or just being socially aware. What I mean by that is they’re not completely mindful of how their actions are perceived by others. This can result in people not being as aware of other people’s emotions and being blunt and rude.

So how does this idea effect Juvia? Most of the time she is not rude, so that part does not apply to her. Everything else does. Juvia is very blunt about her feelings towards Gray, to the point of being a nuisance at times (note that I said at times because there are times where Gray enjoys her presence and is comfortable with her). Juvia is also not aware of how her actions effect Gray and others until someone out right tells her or her well-meaning intentions blow up in her face. This can best be seen in the episode 413 Days. Yes-one of my favorite episodes that also happens to have one of the worst Juvia moments (washing herself with Gray soap…. just…. just why?).

It perfectly shows how unaware Juvia is of her actions and how they affect Gray. Now to be fair Juvia did not know that day was the anniversary of Ul using ice shield. However, when we see Gray, it was clear that he was suffering and grieving. Juvia either didn’t or could not read his body language and there for fell upon him with a tsunami of joy and happiness. This results in Gray snapping at her, but it brings Juvia back to reality and she does apologize in the end. The point is though it took Gray snapping at her to bring her back to her senses, to get her to admit that she was a selfish fool. In my opinion that is very positive, as she is learning that she is not as mindful of other people’s body language and emotions as she should be, and that this can have consequences. But you know she tries to thrust a body pillow at Gray so… there’s that.

Baby steps people… baby steps.

So now that we covered a possible reason why Juvia is so oblivious and blunt, let’s try and examine what many people see as not only Juvia’s biggest flaw but one of the biggest flaws in Gruvia, and that’s Juvia’s obsession and attachment to Gray.

I think if we want to even begin to understand her obsession and attachment, we need to look at her past relationships people.

As I mentioned before the manga and anime shows that Juvia was bullied in her childhood and most likely didn’t have a stable home life. Not only that the one romantic relationship shown ended with the jerk brushing her off because of the rain. That kind of treatment can scar a person. I myself was a victim of bullying from childhood until my mid-teens and it affected me. I was confident, outgoing child who would smile even when she got beaten up (that actually happened). By the time I entered middle school I put myself in a shell and it took me until high school to come out. I’m going to be twenty-two in about two months, so I’ve pretty much put what happened behind me.

However, I cannot pretend it hasn’t shaped me into the shy, reserved person I am today. I also had a lot of help to overcoming the bullying. I have a good family support system, and I went to a childhood therapist a saw a school consoler once a week from six grade until I graduated high school.

Juvia did not have that kind of help and support. So when someone showed her just a little bit of kindness she latched on to that person. Add to the fact that she is naturally an emotional and imaginative person, and that she was not socialized properly, Juvia does not know how to act properly when she likes someone. She also does not know how to handle her overwhelming emotions and imagination (which even she admit was getting out of hand), so in the end you get someone who gets way to attached and is more than a little obsessive.

All right, I guess there’s only one other point to touch on.

Knowing that Juvia has all these issues (and lord knows Gray has his own host of issues) why do I still ship Gruvia so much?

Well there are a few things I like to keep in mind:

1-All of the major ships have something off or disturbing about them. Gajeel attacked Levy and seriously hurt her and her team mates. Jelall tried to and came close to killing Erza. Natsu is constantly entering Lucy’s apartment without her permission and gives her no privacy (I can’t keep track of how many times he’s seen her nude). I don’t dislike these ships any less for these issues (particularly Nalu… dear god I love Nalu). Gruvia’s biggest issues are Juvia’s attachment to Gray and Gray being somewhat emotionally closed off. Remember, Erza mentioned that there’s more to than underneath that “cool guy” persona, and what’s underneath is a lot of grief and pain. The point of the matter is none of the relationships are perfectly normal or healthy, but we still love and ship them anyway. That is probably the number one reason I get annoyed when people say Gruvia is unhealthy, because even though I don’t think they are entirely wrong, the other ships also have major issues that would never be acceptable in the real world.

2-Fairy Tail has been around for quiet some time and has well over 200 episodes and over 500 manga chapters. This means there is a lot of time for the characters to grow and develop, and Gray and Juvia are no exceptions. People always claim that Juvia has no character outside of wanting Gray, and while I could understand why they would think that I would have to politely disagree. When we first meet Juvia she was cold and emotionless until she got angry. Despite claiming Phantom Lord gave her a home and understood her, you could tell she wasn’t happy. In fact I would say she seemed down right miserable. It took her some time, because in the Tower of Heaven arc she was still a little cold and haughty. It is when she joins Fairy Tail that we see development. She becomes happy and much more open and loving. Yes I said loving and not just to Gray. She has shown that she cares not just about other guild members but the guild itself. Remember when she willingly got struck by lightning so Cana could fight and to keep the guild safe? That’s insanely dangerous for a normal person, but I imagine having a body made completely of water makes it even more dangerous.

Not only that Juvia’s more… eccentric tendencies have calmed down. It is important to keep in mind that the anime took the stalking gag and ran with it. In the manga the gag only lasted for an arc or two. I also think she is coming out of her own little world more and more. I remember reading a post somewhere about how selfish Juvia was when she told Gray about killing Silver, because she said she didn’t have the right to love him and was more focused on her relationship with him than him. Once again I can understand why someone would think that, but I must politely disagree. Yes I believe she was concerned for her relationship with him, but I don’t think it came from a selfish place. She knew how much losing his father a second-time hurt Gray, and that it was her who killed Sliver. I can’t begin to imagine how guilty she must of have felt. In fact, she felt so guilty that she was willing to let him go because of how much pain she caused him.

Now what about Gray? How has he changed?

The biggest way I would say he changed was becoming more open and slowly by slowly dropping the “cool guy” persona. The first moment we really see this is when Juvia is telling him about Silver. In the beginning of the show, during the Galuna Isalnd arc, when Gray started to cry in front of Natsu and Lucy he quickly stopped the moment they saw and claimed he wasn’t. He kept most of the pain and loss he suffered to himself, at least until a situation forced him to talk about it. If I remember correctly, on the anniversary of his masters demise he drank his pain away (which… I don’t even want to think about that it’s too sad). Basically he was one closed off, stubborn little tsundere.

That changed after that conversation with Juvia.

Gray balled his eyes out to Juvia, something he would have never done before. That was the breaking moment in my opinion. After that we see a Gray who is willing to cuddle and Exceed and gush about how cute he is. We see a Gray who’s more open with his emotions and more content with himself (you know… when they’re not fighting for their lives and trying to save the world). It seems like he’s becoming less and less of a tsudere, and more in tune and at peace with himself.

Again when the world isn’t crumbling apart and in peril. Poor baby is probably going to have a whole new batch of trauma to get over, like the rest of the guild.

3: Recently, I read a post critiquing Gruvia shipper’s argument that because Gray accepts Juvia’s feelings that makes the ship okay and healthy, and said that the ship is still unhealthy. On some level I agree with it, two people can love each other and be in an unhealthy relationship. Again I understand that there are some elements of an unhealthy relationship in the ship, and a big part of it was that Gray was a little bothered by Juvia’s attention in the beginning and rightfully so. I would say if Juvia had not calmed down and grown, and had Gray continued to show his discomfort I would not ship them.

However the fact of the matter is Juvia has calmed down, and Gray has started to reciprocate Juvia’s feelings. Again that does not necessarily make a healthy relationship, but if you look deeper you will see that it is. For me the biggest clue is in the year time skip after the Tartaros Arc. Gray and Juvia lived together for six months, and there was no indication that there was anything unhealthy about that situation. In fact it seems like they lived a very normal life. They shared their meals together and trained together, and created what seemed like a very calm and peaceful environment.

Now I understand Juvia is “persistent” for lack of a better word, and there have been times when Gray has said no to her and she hasn’t listened. I’m not denying that or saying it’s okay. On the other hand, Gray has shown he’s not afraid to tell her no and show his displeasure at her actions. If he was really bothered by her presence he wouldn’t have lived with her for six months. Now I don’t know if they mutually decided to live together or if she just showed up and didn’t leave-but judging by what we know about their time together I’m leaning more towards the former than the later.

I hope you all liked the post, and please remember that I am not criticizing those who are not fans of Juvia or Gruvia. This was simply an exploration as to why Juvia is the way she is and why I love Gruvia. It was just written for fun and I hope you’ll take it that way.

Now time to watch more anime and pretend that I don’t have half a novel in German to read by Monday.

Ah the blissful joys of procrastination.  

[moeruhoshi]

Hi! I hope you're doing well. Idk if you're taking requests but I had this cute idea where little dragon Natsu ends up really liking his teacher Anna (lucy's aunt) bc he smells Lucy on her but Natsu's not able to really understand that so he just knows he likes this teacher (this is based off of that one scene at the end in the anime). And then Anna brings Lucy to school with her bc no one can watch over her. Then Natsu sees Lucy and it all just clicks 👀🥰🥰

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

“Natsu,” Anna laughed as her little student smothered his face against the legs of her long skirt. “You have to go home, no more clinging to me, okay?”

“But Miss Anna smells really good,” The fledgling whined, using the little bit of strength in his hands to try and stay attached. His father sighed and pulled him by his waist, rolling his eyes when his son began to glare at him.

“Come on, Natsu,” Igneel grumbled and crouched down to his level. “Miss Anna has to go home too, and you’ll see her in the morning,”

“Okay...” He huffed, letting his weirdly strong grip on her go. His eyes glazed up at the smiling woman, his heart not so subtly skipping a beat. “G-Goodnight, Miss Anna!”

“Goodnight, Natsu,” She giggled and waved off the small boy who kept his eyes glued to her form as his father carried him away. He sighed lovingly, resting his head on Igneel’s shoulder. His tail had come out on its own, wagging behind him and slightly smacking his dad in the face.

“N-Natsu!” He sputtered, holding the appendage down. “You do this everyday, can’t you calm down already?”

“Nope!” He grinned as his tired father rolled his eyes, taking off into the air with his miniature prodigy.

Grandine greeted them at the door with a finger to her lips, holding Natsu’s younger sister in her arms.

“I just got Wendy to fall asleep so please be quiet,” She glared, bouncing the baby gently before going back into the house.

“But I wanted to tell mama about school today,” Their son pouted as he pulled off his shoes.

“You can at dinner, alright? But for now, you can sit and watch television.” Igneel ushered the little fire dragon into the living room, making sure the volume was just above two as he left Natsu by his lonesome.

He wandered upstairs to find his wife, Grandine gently putting Wendy to rest in her crib.

He carefully wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, chuckling lowly as she melted into his hold.

“I love having babies, but I swear, no more,” She shook her head furiously. “Wendy’s sensitivity to sound is...ugh, I just forgot that this is something we’d have to deal with while she’s still so young,”

“Me too,” Igneel sighed, the both of them carefully exiting the room as Wendy cooed in her sleep. “But that might not be the worst of our problems,”

“What do you mean? Natsu’s not fighting at school again, is he?” She groaned, following her husband down the stairs.

“No, hes just very attatched to his teacher. It’s the way she smells, he wouldn’t let her go when I went to pick him up,”

“Oh gosh, that doesn’t sound good,” She pursed her lips and turned to face him. “But there’s nothing else weird about the way he’s acting, is there? I don’t think we need to be worried unless he starts getting possessive or antsy without her around.”

“You’re right, but I swear I’m going to lose it if his instincts wake up early while we’re dealing with Wendy’s hearing,”

“Worst case scenario, we can just send her to stay with my mother for a little while.”

The worst case scenario would prove to be a reality for the Dragneel family as the years went on, but the next day of school was the beginning of the worst of it.

It wasn’t until a dragon reached their adolescence that their instincts woke within them, making it much easier for the parent to walk their child through the understanding of their own body.

And it wasn’t completely unheard of for a dragon to meet his mate early on in life. The only worry that came along with said encounter was a possible, accidental marking. It was hard to tell a child to fight off that kind of urge, especially when it was such an overpowering voice in their mind telling them to do so. And without proper supervision, there was no telling what might happen. It was only when the aftermath occurred, that things went haywire.

Sure, an older dragon could stand being away from their mate for however long they needed to be, were mature enough to understand that it was just a part of life. But for someone so young, they’d whine and cry like you had just taken their favorite bear away. And a baby dragon would have no issue with destroying everything around them in efforts to get what was theirs back at their side.

When Natsu walked through the doors of his preschool, he was quick to run from his father's side and into the open arms of his teacher waiting to greet him.

Igneel watched with a steady smile, but took it as a good sign when all Natsu did was take in a big whiff of her skirt before skipping off to find his friends.

He left for work feeling relatively secure with his assumptions, not knowing the madness he’d soon be faced with that evening.

When everyone had arrived, Anna clapped her hands and had all the students gather on a large and colorful carpet.

“Alright, so today is going to be a little different,” The teacher started, staring into the excited and few wandering eyes. “We have someone joining us today! I want you to make her feel super welcome, because she’s my niece! Everyone, I’d like you to meet Lucy!”

A little blonde girl, not much taller than the rest of them, appeared as if out of nowhere from behind Miss Anna’s skirt.

She waved her small hand and blushed in embarrassment, not used to so many people looking at her all at once.

Natsu, who always sat at the front of the carpet, felt his heart begin to pound. He stared at Lucy with wide eyes and felt a grin split before he knew it.

She was the source of Miss Anna’s hypnotic smell, why hadn’t he met her until now? If Miss Anna knew that she smelled so good, wouldn’t she have brought her here sooner?!

He wanted to stand up and tackle her in a hug, but he knew Miss Anna wouldn’t like it if he interrupted her outside of recess time.

“Lucy lives in Acalypha, but she’ll be here in Magnolia this week while her parents are out of town,” Their teacher said, everyone excitedly waving and saying hi. Though Gray tried not to look too excited about a new friend when he saw Juvia staring relentlessly at him.

“We’ll start this morning with arts and crafts, okay? So go sit at your usual tables,” She said, allowing the bunch of toddlers to stand and find their way to their seat. “Natsu, could I ask you to do a very special thing for me?”

“Uh huh! I can do anything, Miss Anna!” He chirped, practically bouncing as he stood in place.

“Could I ask you to look after Lucy while she’s here?” She asked, crouching down to push her little niece a little closer to the dragon. “She’ll need a good friend to show her the ropes, don’t you think so?”

“Mhm! Just trust me, Luce! I’ll be your bestest friend ever!” Natsu said excitedly, reaching out to grab her by the hand.

“O-Okay,” Lucy squeaked a bit as he pulled her along with him, showing her to his table and the others that sat with him. 

It would have been more obvious as to what was going on if Natsu was more rambunctious, but he was the epitome of calm. Though that really should have set off at least one alarm. Since when was that fire dragon ever this well behaved?

He was kind and didn’t come on too strongly, in the way that he would have towards Gray or Erza. Instead, he was clear and coherent in his usage of words, or as clear as a six year old was able to get.

When Lucy looked like she was confused, he helped her out with instructions or ran off to collect the materials she really wanted to use. Miss Anna would have paid more mind to this if she hadn’t had to focus her attention on one of the more upset students. It was Millianna, as usual, crying over her inability to be at home with her pet cat.

Natsu made sure she got to know his friends too once it was time for recess, the little blonde hitting it off right away with Levy and Cana. Erza was a bit embarrassed to meet someone knew, but warmed up to Lucy’s sweet smile in no time. Juvia...well Juvia was alright the rest of the day since Gray agreed to hold her hand. And Gajeel was always nonchalant, not caring about what was going on...unless Levy was scolding him.

At lunch, if anyone had the ability to notice, would have seen Natsu absolutely swooning from his seat across from Lucy.

He sighed lovingly and pushed his round cheeks up with his hands, leaning forward on them to admire her. She was in the middle of talking about her favorite book to the pixie beside her, Erza and Cana both fumbling to tie her hair in loose braids. They swore they could do it as good as Miss Anna could. 

Once she looked his way, his heart began skipping, his cheeks became flushed, and his adrenaline; well Natsu didn’t really understand that feeling. He really liked the way she looked at him though. 

Lucy laughed and picked a grain of rice that rested on his cheek, popping it between her lips as she stole it from him. 

Uwah...

During nap time, he couldn’t help himself anymore. Lucy absolutely, one hundred percent, needed to sleep by his side. 

Not that she complained. Rather, she was excited that someone else was just as excited to be her friend. 

Natsu smothered his nose against her cheek and fell asleep, holding her like he did his dragon-bear at home. Lucy liked that he was warm and snuggly, like her doggy, Plue. 

That was the first memory of the best sleep he’d ever gotten in his life. And any nap he had at her side in the future would count as well.

When his dad came by at the end of the day...it’s a good thing that everything indoors was magic-proofed. 

Lucy had been in a separate room at the time so she was spared the sight of a mad-raving, fire-spewing and burning, fledgling have to be dragged out of the school.

There was something inside of him that screamed, felt pain beyond what pain had meant. 

No no no no no no no no!

It drove him practically literally insane. It pounded in his brain, in every nerve end and even more so. It was as if he left his heart behind and all that could replace it was rage. 

Needless to say that Wendy and Grandine were out of the house before Igneel got anywhere near them.

Sleeping spells worked, if only for the night. It was spine-chilling to see him so catatonic in the morning. Like all that fire from the night before was all he had, that the flame that rested at the pit of his stomach couldn’t be lit again. 

But when Natsu came back to school and saw Lucy standing there, waving with the cutest grin ever on her face, well...Igneel probably the only one who got upset.

“Anna,” He sighed and wiped a tired hand over his face. “We need to talk, if you have the time right now,”