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"Alright, you brats, listen up!" The leader of the guild known as Fairy Tail spoke. All members silenced almost immediately and faced their guild master, Makarov. "Your master has received a letter from the Magic Council. For once, it is not about the amount of damage we've caused in recent locations, in fact, the letter congratulates us for not creating a mess in over 6 months. As a reward, we've all been invited to a grand ball at the Crystal Palace in Balsam Village tomorrow evening," he announced. The sounds of gasping, cheering and babbling erupted from the crowd.
"All of us?" Max the sand wizard repeated.
"Yes, every single one of my children," he assured waving the letter in his hand.
"I don't think going to a ball at such a location is a good idea," Lucy mumbled to herself. She looked around at all the present wizards in the guild hall. She knew most of these wizards were not the most graceful. The only ones with little experience were the crew she spent the most time with and they were already a handful. Put the whole guild into the Crystal Palace would surely make the Magic Council regret ever congratulating the destructive guild. What on Earth were they thinking?
"What if some of us don't want to go? I'm not much of the fancy type of guy," Bickslow shrugged along with a few others who agreed.
"The choice is up to. By the way, I don't think any of you are the fancy type," Makarov responded with a chuckle. "Anyway, be sure to sign your name on the attendance sheet," he alerted directing his hand to Mirajane who stood near the bar holding up a couple sheets of paper.
"I sure hope to see you all there," the sweet mage smiled. Makarov dismissed himself and the guild began talking away about tomorrow.
"We don't have anything fancy enough for a ball. We have no time to waste, we've got to start looking," Bisca Connell spoke turning to her husband.
"My concern is for Asuka, can we bring her along?" Alzack wondered, looking down at his daughter. The small family continued contemplating on what to do while Levy made her way to the celestial mage.
"Hey Lu-chan, think you can spare us extra few lessons on how to be more proper?" Levy asked coming up next to her. Lucy glanced at her and gave a fake smile.
"Sure, no problem," the blonde answered and forced a bigger smile when she noticed the entire guild turned to her. "This is going to be a rough night."
The following evening…
Mirajane checked off everyone who was present that wanted to go to the ball. It was a little hectic, but everyone was accounted for and thus the adventure began.
"Haha! I can't wait to eat more of that fancy food!" Natsu cheered.
"Aye!" Happy beamed keeping a good hold on the fire breathing dragon slayer in the air.
"Natsu, Happy," Lucy called, but they were too excited to hear her calls. She sighed loudly, folded her arms and tapped her shoe irritably. Natsu and Wendy decided to take Exceed Air leading the way westwards out of Magonlia while the rest of the crew traveled by carriages. Lucy along with, Gray, Erza and Juvia were sitting in one of them.
"Don't stress about it Lucy, we'll be fine tonight," Erza assured giving her a kind smile. The scarlet beauty was wearing her usual seductive purple gown with red roses, and long white fancy gloves.
"I sure hope so," she sighed again.
"I'm so happy Juvia gets to go to the ball with Gray-sama!" Juvia squealed, latching onto his arm and looking at him in utter joy.
"Hey, hey, Juvia, watch my suit. It's the only one I have," Gray responded trying to pry her off. He was wearing a red-wine suit tucked into black pants and had a dark blue tie tucked under the collar. Right now, however, the tie crinkled to the side. Erza chuckled while Lucy cleared her throat turning away from the scene. Lately, the actions between Juvia and Gray bothered her a bit and she had no idea why. Lucy looked out of the carriage window watching the scenery go by, but she wasn't smiling over it.
After settling down the water mage beside him, Gray glanced forward and realized Lucy wore an expression that she rarely put on. She was gazing at the view, but looked as if she wasn't even present in the carriage. She must have been far away in her thoughts. This went on all the way until they reached their destination. "Lucy," Gray called, snapping his fingers in front of her face from outside the carriage.
"Huh?" She blinked out of her daze, not realizing she had been out for over twenty minutes. She scanned the inside of the carriage, and noticed everyone else, but her, had exited. She hurriedly got up and rushed out of the cart and stood next to her companions. "Woah, sorry about that guys, I'm a little tired. Being up all night teaching you all how to act fancy was no easy task," she yawned with a tinge of red appearing on her cheeks.
"Well, it's time to wake up, Lucy. We're about to party!" Natsu exclaimed, grabbing her hands and swinging themselves around playfully while Happy cheered alongside him. The action caused her to laugh then she twisted herself away from the excited fire breather.
"You've got to calm down a little, Natsu. Don't forget where we're headed," she giggled with a light blush on her cheeks. The pink-haired dragon slayer gave her a reassuring smile then marched off up toward the palace and everyone else followed.
The sight of the Crystal Palace pleased everyone's eyes. It was huge, and looked as if it were truly made out of crystal.
"Wow, it's like crystal," Carla commented touching the path that lead to the grand structure.
"Actually, the Crystal Palace is in fact made out of crystal. It was built a long time ago for a princess from another kingdom. She adored crystal very much as you can imagine," Levy, the bookworm, informed. She was wearing a shimmering yellow mermaid dress and her hair was in a messy, but adoring bun.
"Must you know everything?" Gajeel snorted, fixing the tie of his black suit. Everything with his suit was black, even the shirt underneath. Levy rolled her eyes and moved in front of him to help with his tie.
"And must you be incapable of completing simple tasks?" she retorted. The Iron dragon slayer only snorted turning his face to the left in order to hide the faint blush that begun to appear.
"I can't believe I'm going to another ball!" Wendy smiled wearing her dark pink gown she wore when they were on a mission to stop Velveno.
"Let's not just stand here, everyone else is already inside. Let's go," Erza demanded in an urgent manner. She could barely hide how excited she was to finally attend another ball. She lead the way triumphantly. Lucy lagged behind the pink-haired dragon slayer who rushed in the same moment as Erza; Juvia had her arm hooked around Gray's, who had no choice but to lead her into the palace like the gentleman he'll try to be like.
"Oh my goodness," Wendy gasped. If they thought outside was stunning to behold, the inside was ten times more magnificent. Almost everything they could lay their eyes on was made out of sheer crystal, even the floors they walked on. There were also other strangers who were dinning, talking or waltzing under the large crystal chandelier.
Lucy gulped loudly. A guild such as Fairy Tail stepping into a place like this could only mean trouble. Was this a test the Magic Council was putting them through? Gray cleared his throat beside her with Juvia still wrapped around his other arm on his left.
"You're worried that we're going to destroy this place aren't you?" He guessed peering down at the blonde.
"Can you blame me?" she replied.
"We didn't destroy the last one," he shrugged.
"Yeah well now we've got a lot more people to worry about," she chuckled nervously then glanced at them. Juvia was wearing a tight blue dress which exposed her impressive curves and her blue hair fell gracefully onto her shoulders. "You look really pretty Juvia," she complimented.
The water mage faced her and gave one of her cutest smiles. "Thank you! You too. You think so, too, right Gray-sama?" she asked, her expression changing into a nervous one.
Gray looked down at her. She was rubbing her chest against his arm, and couldn't help but to blush a bit. "O-oh, I guess." He then glanced over at Lucy who was wearing a floor length dress the colour much similar to his suit. "And you too." He wanted to make both ladies feel satisfied with their appearances. Tonight he was a gentleman. He had to keep reminding himself of that.
Lucy giggled softly, she could tell Gray was trying his best. "Thank you."
"My romantic rival!" Juvia murmured causing Lucy to reflexively jump.
"I-I think it's time we eat," the blonde suggested trying to change the mood.
"Food!" Natsu announced, pointing over at the wide buffet table. He and a few others charged toward the large banquet. The fire wizard squeezed himself between those who were just standing around the table and got to work. Everything that Lucy taught him just flew out the window.
The blonde slapped a hand to her face and grumbled wishing she could just leave. Whatever, she was here, and couldn't spend the entire night worrying over the well being of her friends and the palace. A defeated smile soon appeared on her face and she joined Natsu at the table. The Fairy Tail members didn't even notice when their guild master, dressed in a black suit, slipped between them, grabbed a plate, and swiftly disappeared into the crowd.
Later, everyone went their separate ways enjoying the life of the ball. This all brought some pleasant memories to Lucy. She sometimes missed the life of the rich and famous, but being part of this rowdy crew was what was best for her. She traced the walls of the palace and observed her friends trying to participate in the collaborative waltz. Many of them were awkward, yet some knew what they were doing and blended quite well with the rest of the crowd. She was surprised to see Mirajane dancing with Laxus and they were both doing well. To her left, she heard Evergreen snapping at Elfman for stepping on her feet, she turned to look and saw how the large man cursed at every insult she threw at him. A few gentlemen appeared in front of Lucy at different times to ask her for a dance, but she turned them all away. They were quite handsome, but she was in no mood to dance with a complete stranger. She wanted to at least dance with Natsu again, but Erza took the liberty of doing so, giving him her best Dancing Devil moves causing the blonde to laugh then she found herself watching Gray and Juvia trying to waltz together. They were cute, but they fell into that awkward category too. Juvia appeared to know what she was doing, but Gray would miss steps causing them to land on each other's feet or they would lose the right tempo. She giggled to herself and wished she could give them some advice; she would have if she didn't feel a little empty inside watching them. Why was she feeling this way? She needed to get out of here. She walked over to the punch bowl, and poured herself a glass then walked out of the ballroom to begin exploring the palace. She needed some alone time.
There were less people walking down the corridor which made her feel a little better, maybe it was fresh air she needed. She continued walking until she reached a spiral staircase leading up to who knows where. Today, she was feeling adventurous. She slipped passed a couple guards and darted up the steps, trying to be silent as possible. Sneaking passed guards was simple now; she had enough experience dealing with them. She stopped running to peak over the railing to see if the guards below could spot her from where she was. She couldn't see the bottom or them which meant it was safe to proceed up smoothly. Feeling proud of herself she continued on until finally reaching the top where two large doors remained closed.
"Aww, they're probably locked," she pouted, but still decided to test her luck and began to push against the doors. It took a couple of seconds, and then felt the doors sliding open. "Good," she nodded and continued to press against them. A gust of cool air tickled her skin as she finally opened them wide enough for her to fit through. She glided in then shut the doors quietly behind her. Smiling at her triumphs, she turned around to see where the doors led her.
"Oh wow," she gasped in astonishment. She was on the roof of the palace and all she could see was the night sky filled with glittering stars. "This is amazing, why can't people have access up here?" She wondered. She walked toward the ledge of the roof and looked below. Down below, she could see the entrance where a number of people hung around, and could hear some of the music playing, some of them gazed up at the sky, but she had the best seat. Before anyone noticed her, she backed away from the ledge and found herself a bench where she could rest in peace. She set her cup onto the floor next to the leg of the bench, relaxed then returned her gaze to the night sky. She could name out all the constellations she could see with her naked eyes then remembered her gate keys. She pulled them out and smiled at them. "You all are always watching over me. I am so honoured to have amazing friends like you." As if responding to her compliments, her keys brightened almost matching the stars above her. She pulled them to her chest in order to give them a gentle hug.
"You know, the party is inside," a voice spoke breaking the silence.
Lucy gasped and zipped around hoping it wasn't one of the guards who found her. To her surprise, it was no guard, it was the raven-haired ice wizard. "Gray? W-what are you doing up here?"
"I could ask you the same question," he answered then looked around and eventually looked up at the night sky. "Well, I see you've found yourself a better view of the stars. Everyone downstairs is talking about them. They are quite a sight."
Lucy didn't respond to that, she was still surprised he managed to find her up here. "What happened to Juvia?"
"Hmm?" He looked back at her then registered the question she posed. "Oh, Juvia was turning out to be a handful and I needed some space. I managed to distract and pass the guards to escape her and found myself standing here. She's probably still looking for me."
"That's not very nice of you, Gray," Lucy chided. The ice wizard walked over to the bench she was sitting on and flopped down next to her.
"Yeah well, a man needs his space," he shrugged, he'd go back and find her later, but right now he needed rest.
Lucy snickered and looked up at the sky again. "Well sorry to break it to you, but this place is no longer isolated, better luck next time."
He chuckled in return and followed her gaze. It was a surprise his ventures led him to find Lucy alone up here. "You haven't told me what you're doing up here. Did you plan to hang out here by yourself for the rest of the night?"
"Hmm, I don't know. I wanted somewhere quiet where I could think and also get fresh air and found this place. Downstairs was getting a little crowded for me." Gray nodded in agreement.
A brighter star glinted then darted across the sky in a short couple of seconds.
"Did you see that?" They both said in unison then laughed. Gray was going comment until he noticed Lucy had her head down and her hands clasped together. She was making a wish. He smirked and waited until she was done. He never wished after seeing a shooting star, it wasn't really his thing, but he didn't judge others who loved to do so.
"I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I'm pretty glad that everything is going well downstairs. Looks like everyone is having a good time," she eventually spoke with a soft smile. "I really am glad."
"And what about you, are you having a good time?" He responded knowing the answer already. He could tell from the very beginning she was not her usual cheery self, something was wrong.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded. She remembered the drink she had sitting on the ground, picked it up and gulped it down nervously.
Gray sighed and patted her head. "I won't ask you what's on your mind, but remember that you're not alone," he consoled.
She faced him and gave a better smile. "Thanks Gray." The air went quiet and the two wizards gaped into each other's eyes. They could both hear the music playing down below; it was another classic waltz. It was more familiar to Lucy.
"Do you want to have this dance?" he offered, his right hand appearing in front of her.
She giggled, "Can you even perform a proper waltz?"
"Probably not as good as princess over here, but maybe she could give me a few pointers without kicking me into the sky this time," he teased, making her giggle more then she took his hand. He guided her to her feet then to the center of the roof. "Since I'm trying to be fancy," he began, taking the right hand he already held higher then bent over to give it a peck. Her pale cheeks turned to rubies as she felt his light kiss press into her hand. "Was that weird?" He wondered, scratching his head, his own cheeks turning pink as well.
"N-no, you're doing quite well," she assured. "N-now we bow to each other like this," she directed giving him a curtsy. He almost curtsied as well, but remembered only women did that and quickly corrected himself into a proper bow. Then she placed her left hand on his shoulder and held up his left hand then cleared her throat. "P-put your right hand on my w-waist," she stuttered. Why was she doing that? She taught many men including Natsu how to waltz, why was she nervous teaching him? Maybe it's because she didn't have everyone observing. It was just her and Gray. Maybe should would have felt nervous if she gave Natsu private lessons as well. She had no idea.
Gray swallowed loudly, his pink cheeks darkening. He hesitantly followed her instructions and gripped her right hand a little tighter. "L-like this?" Why was he nervous? He's danced this way with Juvia a few times. Was it because he was alone with Lucy? But it's not like this has ever been their first time being alone together. So why now?
"Uh huh, good. Now follow my lead," she replied counting the steps and swaying with the music below. She could tell Gray was feeling anxious as they moved; he was stiff as a board. "Relax, Gray, don't think about it. Just feel the music and go with it," she soothed.
He took a deep breath then relaxed listening to the music below, feeling the vibrations under his feet. He closed his eyes for a moment and before he knew it, he was the one taking the lead. "That's it," he heard her praise. He opened his eyes and fell upon the pair in front of him. "I think I could get used to this," he chuckled then spun her out once and pulled her back in.
"You're a fast learner," she grinned.
"It's thanks to my great teacher," he marveled then twirled around with her a few times before taking her waist again. Just as he was feeling confident, his foot missed a step and fell on one of hers. This caused her to lose her own footing and fall into his arms. "Oops, sorry about that," he smiled sheepishly.
She stifled a chuckle and pulled herself up from his chest. "No, no, it's alright. It would be really amazing if you nailed it all the way through on the first try." They fell deep into each other's gaze again and could feel the air escaping their lungs. They stood there like that for a few moments then blinked and began to laugh loudly. Lucy's mood had drastically changed and it was all thanks to the wizard in front of her. They coughed and re-positioned themselves. Soon after, they both went silent and let the music take over them. Never taking their eyes off one another they continued to waltz under the moonlight.
End.