Summary: None of the Fairy Tail guild members would think of Valentine's Day in the same way again - and the same could be said for their guests - a night of frolic, dancing and minor (for Fairy Tail) explosions. Mira and Cana plot to ease Erza's surly attitude, roping Gray and Wendy into the action as well as stirring their spoons in other pots. Mature shenanigans within the second chapter. Story conceived and written (and giggled madly over) by Impracticaldemon (FF dot net and tumblr) & DancesWithSeatbelts (aka nalufever a la tumblr)

I cannot brag enough about Impracticaldemon's writing prowess, mad skills with editing, friendship and generous nature allowing me to hog posting rights here on Fan Fiction ~ please be sure to go over to her account and enjoy her fabulous writing. Please be assured if we get enough response, we'll collaborate more. ;)

The Valentine's Day Community Relationship and Bonding Soirée

Chapter 1: Set-Up

[I] The Planning

Mira sat on top of the freshly polished bar and employed her brightest smile at Erza. "The Master gave me the go-ahead for the Valentine's Day Community Relationship and Bonding Soiree."

"Valentine's Day is an archaic idea." The red haired swordswoman crossed her arms and frowned. "The Master only wants to ogle more women."

"Of course." Mira's smile never lost any wattage. "There's nothing wrong with that." She cast her eyes over to a sullen Laxus and Freed dancing attendance. "We could use some fresh meat here. Don't you get tired of the same guys?" She giggled—Laxus could hear everything (dragon slayer senses doncha know) but she had a thick skin when it came to certain things; if he knew what was good for him and her and Freed—he'd ignore Mira's small verbal faux pas.

"Ugh." Grimacing, Erza looked away and let her lips pinch together in a most unflattering expression. "Not everyone is looking to sate their base desires at a moment's notice."

Cana took this opportunity to spin around on her bar stool. "More's the pity."

"Yes, Cana knows what Valentine's Day should be about," agreed Mira.

It took all Erza had not to growl. Instead she grumbled: "Why would any sane person take the advice of a demented match-maker or an inveterate lush?"

"Tch." Mira ignored the tone and content of Erza's words. "You really need something to take that wicked edge off."

"I am fine."

Cana drained her mug and shook her head; Mira looked at the red-head and giggled. "The cards never lie, Erza. You need some help."

"I am fine." Repeating her words didn't make her believe them any better either. The endless scuffling between Gray and Natsu, behind her, burned her last nerve. Turning, Erza glared at the ice and fire mages. "I will rip off your arms and beat you to death with them if you don't stop right this instant!"

Natsu pulled his punch, turning his haymaker into a friendly arm around Gray's neck. For his part, Gray grimaced but allowed the contact.

"We're the best of pals over here!"

"The very best!"

Lucy sighed and joined Erza, Cana and Mira. "Did I hear someone asking for help?"

Mira settled behind the bar once again and leaned forward. "We were discussing the 'Valentine's Day Community Relationship and Bonding Soiree.' It's going to be the best gathering of eligible mages in all of Fiore!"

"I would love to bond with my teammate." Lucy blushed as both Mira and Cana chuckled knowingly. Erza looked slightly less murderous. "Ah, I mean, a party sounds fun!"

"Then you can take first dibs on my list of what needs doing." Mira picked up a clipboard from under the bar and held it out to Lucy. "The budget for decorations is kinda low, but the Master had to double our insurance from the last party."

Lucy ran her finger over the list and considered her choices. "I do have mad skills at making cardboard hearts and I'm sure Lyra would love to play some music at the party."

Mira clapped her hands. "That's so great!"

Erza let out a sigh. "Valentine's day is dumb."

"Let me know when you start making decorations, Mira." Lucy edged away from Erza who was tearing a napkin into confetti. "Can I get you to deliver a pitcher of beer to Levy's table?"

"Sure!"

Cana picked up the clipboard and scrawled a few new suggestions at the bottom. Erza pulled it over and began reading Mira's list. Her expression got more dour by the second. "Don't you think red, white and pink balloons are overkill? Cupids are just babies with weapons, doesn't that send the wrong kind of message to children? They're going to think it's okay to shoot people with arrows."

Mira returned from her drink delivery and just leaned up behind the bar, watching Erza read and complain. She noticed Cana flipping her cards between her hands into a more and more complicated pattern - never a good sign.

Erza grimaced. "You want fancy ice sculptures from Gray? What's the point when he and Natsu will destroy them? Why make Reedus paint a romantic mural for people to have their pictures taken in front of when Wakaba and Macao will photobomb each couple?" Erza ran her finger down the list and stopped three quarters the way down the paper. She snorted her disgust and then ranted some more. "You're going to regret letting that restaurant cater. Their food is adequate, but they have the most wretched cake. Their pastry chef is some sort of back alley monster."

"Well, then I'd take it as a personal favour if you'd choose a better place instead." Mira crossed her arms and smiled with vigour. "Anything else you'd change? Perhaps the games I've selected?" Her smile sharpened further. "I'm of two minds over the dress code. On the one hand, I love the idea of fancy costumes all relating to fictional lovers—and on the other, perhaps elegant black tie for the gentlemen and gowns for the ladies?"

Cana took a big draft of her drink and stared at Erza, waiting for the swordswoman's reaction.

"It doesn't matter, and dressing up as romantic fictional couples is foolish." Erza scowled. "What do you expect single people to do? How can I match my outfit to Je—" xxShe bit off her word and took a deep breath before continuing. "Just specify formalwear."

"Tch." Cana smirked and rummaged in her purse. "I think I just heard my communications lacrima ring." She lifted it and read the caller ID. "Mira, we need to take this."

"Oh goody!" Mira clapped her hands, pulled Cana over the bar and frogmarched her into the back, calling to Erza to keep her suggestions flowing for the party.

[II] - Crime Sorcière

Jellal was never especially cheerful at the best of times, but the last few weeks had been worse than usual. He really cared about Crime Sorcière, and tried to look after the members, but lately when he wasn't focussed on guild business he'd taken to withdrawing entirely from the team to go sit on his own. Meredy was still trying to cheer him up, but most of the others had hit their breaking point.

"It's that damn red-head," muttered Midnight, from his usual place toward the outer edge of the camp, seated on his square of silky carpet.

Even though Midnight still spent a lot of time tuned-out, Jellal's latest round of navel-gazing had gotten through even to the cruel-eyed illusion-wielder. He was starting to contemplate dosing their leader with some really wild dreams… but he didn't want to get his butt kicked, although it might almost be worth it just to see a crack in Jellal's armour.

"Of course it is," agreed Coba, looking amused. "Look on the bright side, Macbeth, at least you don't have to hear his thoughts—although he's pretty good at keeping them mostly to himself, thank the gods. Seriously, though, half the time he's thinking about what a saintly person she is, and the rest of the time he starts with her breasts and moves on from there, if you know what I mean. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but yeah."

"Wish he'd get laid and get it over with," grumbled Racer. "Who does he think he's kidding?"

"He thinks he's kidding everyone," Cobra answered with a smirk. "Which takes some pretty wishful thinking around me an' Macbeth."

"Yeah." Midnight rolled his crimson eyes. "I mean, I crushed him the first time we fought, and he still wanted to protect her, somehow. I've seen his nightmares, right?"

"Well, it's getting old, fast." Racer looked into his empty cup and got up for more coffee.

"The kid's out trying to make him feel better, again," noted Midnight. Midnight didn't really like a lot of people other than Cobra, but he had a bit of a soft spot for Meredy.

"We just need to get them together under the right circumstances," said Cobra thoughtfully. "You know, get him to work it out his system." He paused, contemplating just how long it had been, assuming it had ever happened at all. "Or least kinda take the edge off."

"Does that mean fighting or sex or both?" asked Midnight with a snicker. "She's freaky, I tell you."

"That's saying something, coming from you," Racer snarked, glancing sideways at his colleague's punk-goth styling and weird eyes.

"Whatever." Midnight stretched out lazily, leaning his head on one hand and giving Racer a look that made the other man twitch a little. Macbeth wasn't a good guy to push too much. "I'm all for our fearless leader getting some, if it means he'll stop with the pining for a while, but we'll never get him to Fairy Tail. What do you say, Erik—got any great ideas?"

"Maybe I do," Cobra replied thoughtfully. "I'll look into it and let you know. Anyhow, I'm going out for a walk to get away from you lot—and Jellal—for a while. Try not to miss me too much."

There was a pause, and then Midnight cracked. Usually it was Racer.

"With every shot so far, mind-reader—but only 'cause I'm not trying."

Cobra stood up, smiling faintly at the old joke. He waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the other two before walking off into the night. He had a pretty good idea of who, at Fairy Tail, might be interested in a set-up. Well, whatever happened it was going to be entertaining—that was something.

[III] - The Party

Ichiya strolled into the guild followed by the Trimens. Several of the unattached women at the event stopped to stare and whisper amongst themselves. Eve made sure to smile and look at the pretty ladies from under his long lashes, Ren pretended to ignore the fuss being made, and Hibiki simply did his best to be pleasant.

"Excellent party Makarov," Ichiya said to Fairy Tail's master, "You've outdone yourself with the parfum of success."

"This is Mira's doing." Makarov's smile was only slightly devious. "I gave her some suggestions and she surprised me with this elegance."

"I'm not surprised everything is fancy, what with the sublime invitations that were sent."

"The what-now?"

Ichiya pulled an embossed invite from his breast pocket and enjoyed a heavy sniff of the vellum. "Ahhh, a most dignified parfum, it has the piquancy of youth and the gravitas of age at the same time."

Makarov nodded, his mouth zipped shut, hoping the leader of Blue Pegasus would not need an answer. He was flummoxed as to what he could say that would stop the short, red-haired man from becoming even creepier. It didn't matter though; nothing much could dissuade Ichiya from his normal weirdness.

Thankfully, Mira flounced up and tapped him on the shoulder while smiling at Ichiya. "I apologize; I must steal the Master for a few minutes."

"Quite all right."

Mira and Makarov forced smiles that didn't reach their eyes and scuttled away. Once out of earshot of Ichiya, Mira spoke softly to Makarov. "We're close to capacity but the guests I've been waiting for haven't arrived yet."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"Well, perhaps." Mira giggled, "Remember to save me a dance later."

"I'd be delighted," said Makarov. "Let's be sure Laxus gets a front row seat."

"I'm counting on it."

Lucy shook imaginary dust off her frock and let her gaze wander over the massive number of guests thronging the guild. Eve had waved and winked at her just a little earlier—it had taken several minutes for her heartbeat to return to normal. But it wasn't just the fact that a cute guy had expressed interest in her—it was because Natsu had marched over to her and grabbed her hand, not letting go even after the blond member of the Trimens had slunk off.

Wendy found herself worrying about Erza. The redhead had been increasingly sour the whole week leading up to the party. This morning she'd acted especially strange, even for a guild member whose weirdness was legendary.

Charle sipped from her teacup, pensive as she gazed at Wendy. Making up her mind, she spoke. "You look as if you've just bitten into a sour plum."

"I do not!" Wendy protested. "I'm having a lovely time, even if there are so many people crowding our guild. So many… Oh Charle, I saw things I can't un-see!"

The fastidious white Exceed grimaced. "I was hoping that Max, broom and Laki would be more discrete, but some people have no class. Speaking of which…"

"Hi Charle!" Happy bounced over to his crush and grinned like the buffoon he was. "Classy party, right?"

"It was." Charle gave Happy her coldest smile. "Shouldn't you be hanging out with Natsu?"

"Oh, he's busy with Lucy." Happy waved to Wendy. "He's being very clingy. It's like Lucy's weirdness is catching."

Charle's tone was frosty. "That's not a very nice thing to say."

Oblivious to the undertones, Happy said, "Well, Cana said that they just need to bone it out. Or maybe get the bone out? But I don't think Natsu heard her and anyway he didn't bring Lucy any fish."

Charle gave Happy a look of total disbelief. Happy admired the way her delicate jaw formed a perfect triangle when her mouth gaped like that. Fortunately, Wendy had just turned toward the door.

"Oh! I see Romeo and Chelia!" Wendy smiled at Happy, "Please excuse me and Charle - we'll see you later, okay?"

Charle had her paws over her ears as she trotted off behind Wendy. "...I'll never get that image out of my mind! I'm may be sick..."

Happy's eyes widened, and he stood looking after them with hearts in his eyes and floating around his head, muttering ecstatically to himself. "Charle thinks I'm slick and she can't get me out of her mind!"

Elsewhere in the room, Evergreen sighed. Elfman was just only barely acceptable as an escort. He had found (the spirits only knew where) a passable suit that strained to contain his super broad shoulders and paired it with the palest pink shirt that matched the corsage he'd given her for her wrist. His tie was a dark blue, but Ever decided to forgive him that trespass—just this once—because it set off his eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Elfman wanted to throttle himself as soon as he asked such an inane question. If experience had taught him anything, it was that Evergreen would tell him everything he needed to know before he asked. If he asked, then it was always the wrong question. Maybe she'd keep it on the down low in front of outsiders. Shit. Her left eye was twitching—time for some grovelling or the after-party sex would end up being just him and his right hand like always.

"Do I look ill-fed?" Ever crossed her arms under her ample bosom. "Just because you eat every hour on the hour doesn't mean everyone else does."

Elfman kept his chagrin under control and deflected as best he could. "Mira said that she brought in the best of the best appetizers and I thought you'd be the judge of that." Now if Ever smiled, then it was crisis averted. Elfman hunched smaller in front of his domineering girlfriend. "I trust your opinion." Ah, that did it.

Ever preened. "I suppose I could go and take a look at the spread."

Elfman followed Evergreen as she sashayed to where most of the food was set up, on the main floor but near the entrance to the downstairs documents room. He grinned—Ever was busy passing judgement over the food, her back to him so that he was for once not under her microscope, and he was free to enjoy how bangin' her ass looked in her tight gown. Ooh, plans for later!

Nearby, Gajeel tugged at his bow-tie. Levy had insisted on it; she'd insisted on rather a lot of things actually. He adjusted the handkerchief in his suit pocket, marvelling again at how exactly it matched Levy's hair band. Dressing fancy wasn't all bad he guessed, not when his better half wore a low-cut diamante gown. The sparkles made him think of metal, which fed his appetite like nothing else could—and Levy knew how that would affect him.

"Let's go find Lucy—and try your best to behave with Natsu."

"Ghee hihi! What'll you give me if I do behave?"

Levy inhaled deeply. It made Gajeel sweat and his heart clench. Shrimp was petite but her assets were on mouth-watering display. That ass! Those tits! Tasty as fine carbonized steel.

"It's not a question of what I'll give you as much as what I'll let you do." Levy pulled out a pot of lip gloss and applied a new coat before speaking further. "Me."

Things weren't going quite as smoothly for some of the hall's other potential lovers. Somewhere between the bar and the front doors, Gray stood with his arms crossed and tried not to glare at Lyon who was smiling like a dolt at his wom-, his Ju-, his … friend. (He was failing.)

"Juvia thinks this is the nicest soirée she's ever been to."

"You're absolutely correct Juvia." Lyon adjusted the ice rose pinned to his suit jacket, his fingers twitching with nerves. "Because you're here, it's the most perfect party."

"What does Gray-sama think?" Juvia fluttered her thick fringe of lashes. "Is Gray-sama enjoying himself? Can Juvia get Gray-sama a drink?"

Lyon patted Juvia on her arm. "Allow me to fetch us all drinks. Ladies deserve special attention. What would you like?" He smiled at Juvia's diffident answer and walked off as Gray tried to place his request. Over his shoulder he glared at his rival. "You'll get what you're given."

"The party is starting to look up." Gray shoved his hands in his pockets - it was either that or he might try to hold Juvia's hand in order to stake his claim. Dammit! Seeing Lyon all over Juvia like a cheap suit was messing with his head.

The worst of it was that he needed to keep at least one eye out on the arrivals. Mirajane had blown by him earlier muttering something about Erza and telling him to make sure that if Jellal showed, she wanted help getting them together. Since Gray agreed that Erza was even more tightly wound than usual, he wanted to help—and if he could accidentally screw up any of Lyon's plans at the same time, so much the better. And what the hell kind of drink what that anyway?! He wasn't going to drink something bright pink with umbrellas!

[IV] - Smooth Operators, Part I

Jellal allowed his group to flank him as they walked from the hotel that he had booked for himself and those of the team who hadn't been invited to stay elsewhere. By design, it was a considerable distance from Fairy Hills—bad enough that he had to see Erza at a party, it would be worse to be too near her overnight.

Meredy had skipped ahead of everyone, whether in a rush to hang out with other girls or just to get away from the same boring people he wasn't sure. Erik was rushing for his own reasons, which were most likely purple-haired and gorgeous. When Racer sped up, he figured that the man just wanted to arrive ahead of Midnight, who never looked like he put in any effort, but was irritatingly good at winning anyway and generally showing people (Racer) up.

Pretty soon, most of Crime Sorcière was rushing madly down the street, dodging pedestrians—mostly—and avoiding falling into the canal—again, mostly. Jellal turned to Richard to make a comment about being the mature ones, but Richard had a wistful look on his face, and shortly afterward he was charging down the street behind his comrades just for the joy of participation. It didn't occur to Jellal until he heard a resounding bang and the sound of splintering wood that they would all get tangled up a short way from the Fairy Tail front doors and end up literally crashing the party.

Jellal picked his way through the debris, wincing at the damage to the lavish decorations, not to mention the doors. And yet, he couldn't help but admire the irony of Crime Sorcière, with its coterie of fancy powers, being the ones to create a disturbance at Fairy Tail, which was justifiably known for creating its own disturbances on a regular basis. Jellal looked elegantly dressed as always, but it just seemed to highlight the caustic—and rather arrogant—antagonism of most of his colleagues. Despite his dismay, however, he noticed two things: first, Erik was having a quick chat with Mirajane, which he found odd; and second… Erza looked stunning in an evening gown that accented every perfect curve.

Even as he hastily dragged his eyes away from Erza, Mirajane came rushing over. Jellal squelched a sigh and managed a polite smile. Not that he didn't like Mirajane, but she tended to take an… interest… in his personal affairs.

"Jellal! You made it! I was just beginning to worry!"

She looked anything but worried, in Jellal's opinion. In fact, he thought her blue eyes had the particular gleam he'd come to dread. She was perfectly dressed, of course, and would probably make the front of Sorcerer's Weekly again, but he knew her too well to be taken in—especially when she wore such an innocent smile.

"Mirajane, thank you for inviting us. I'm very sorry about the, uh, door though, and-"

"I'm so glad you came—and the others too! You absolutely have to dance…" For an instant Mira's eyes seemed to darken slightly. "We spent absolutely forever deciding on just the right music. Oh and the cake—as you can imagine!"

Well, she'd managed about half a dozen sentences, maybe, without bringing up Erza. That wasn't too bad. Still, he was reasonably certain that this was just the beginning. Sure enough, at just that moment, Mirajane turned abruptly with a low cry of annoyance, and when Jellal glanced up to see what had alarmed her, he found himself looking straight at Erza.

With incredible—and surely staged—timing, a path had opened across the hall between the star-crossed lovers, and Jellal was looking directly at Erza's…

"Oh, wasn't it a shame that she dropped her dessert tickets?!" Mirajane was saying, with apparent sincerity.

Jellal frantically searched for a response that didn't include a cascade of scarlet hair over bare shoulders and very nearly bare… arms… as Erza bent over to pick up her tickets. Somehow, he'd managed to forget just how creamy her skin looked against the beautiful jewel tones that she loved to wear. From there it was just a short skip of memory to how soft she was to hold—although maybe memory had become blurred with fantasy. Jellal felt his cheeks begin to burn.

Apparently, Wendy had fumbled the dessert tickets at just the wrong moment, and then stumbled trying to pick them up. At least, Jellal assumed it was something like that, since Wendy was being helped up by Charle, as well as disentangled from whoever she had fallen into. A little closer to Jellal, Gray seemed to be having a dispute with Lyon, which was causing other people to stand back in concern.

None of which really registered except in passing. As Erza straightened, her eyes naturally went to Wendy, who was apologizing to everyone around her. And from Wendy they went fleetingly to Gray, and then directly to Jellal. Somehow, Mirajane was now standing beside the master of Crime Sorcière, instead of in front of him.

Jellal swallowed hard and crossed his arms, gripping his elbows tightly so that he wouldn't be tempted to reach out. His dark eyes finally met Erza's, and he almost recoiled a little. The blazing look she gave him was mostly anger, but he knew her too well to miss the longing that went with it. It was very, very difficult to turn away knowing that he could walk up to her right now and touch her soft skin and bury his head against her hair and, maybe, let his hands run over those wonderfully rounded hips.

He gave up trying to deal politely with Mirajane, muttered something about speaking with Makarov, and fled in the general direction of the bar, trying not to look as though his own personal demons were after him. It was a less dignified retreat than he'd hoped for, and it didn't help that the first person he bumped into was Cobra.

"So, tell me again why you're not off somewhere getting cozy with those breasts?" Erik's eyes were bright with amusement. Jellal felt his face getting redder, but he'd had lots of experience shoving the mind-reader out of his head when he really needed to.

Erik smirked at him. "Yeah, that's so not working right now, Jellal. Your concentration's shot and I don't think anyone needs magic to know what's on your mind."

When Jellal glared at him, suddenly looking far more menacing than he had in a long time, the former member of the Oracion Seis threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Yeah, okay, you're the boss, boss. But, uh, you might want to get a grip… on something, anyway."

With that parting shot and an audible snicker, Erik sauntered off, leaving Jellal wishing for a moment that he hadn't become one of the good guys. Fortunately, staring after Erik allowed him to finally catch a glimpse of Makarov. Completely unsettled by the directions his thoughts had taken since arriving at Fairy Tail, Jellal composed his face as well as possible and walked over to say hello.

Makarov sat on top of the polished bar conversing with his cronies. Wakaba blew a massive smoke ring, giving the master a thumbs-up. "Not too shabby. Lots of good lookin' chicks here for once."

Macao gave his best friend a dubious look. "For once? Best selection EVER."

"Keep it down or Mira will make my life hell—and yours too." Makarov glanced left and right, worry evident on his face. "She giveth and taketh away if you know what I mean."

"Yup." Macao nodded and then grunted. "I was married once."

Wakaba rolled his eyes. "Pfft. Like you could ever land a woman as enticing as Mirajane."

"I didn't say anything about Mira, but I could if I tried." Macao glared at his buddies, but shrank back at little at Jellal's stony-faced response to his bragging.

Makarov spat out a mouthful of beer and let out a long-suffering sigh before setting his mug down to make eye contact with Jellal.

Macao mumbled: "Well, maybe. Can't a guy dream?"

"So Jellal, my boy, have you been enjoying the party?" Makarov decided to move forward with the conversation. Mirajane didn't just have demon souls, she had the ears of a devil too—and too much reflection on her charms would lead to heads slamming together (whether it was her doling out the punishment or her brother crying both 'men!' and actual tears). Changing topics was not a hard choice to make, really.

"Most assuredly." Jellal nodded stiffly. "I've always been entertained by your guild members. Natsu in particular. How fares Lucy?"

"Lucy?" Wakaba asked, "You're asking about Natsu and need to know how Lucy is doing?"

Jellal furrowed his brows briefly. "Yes?"

"Natsu's just fine." Makarov set down his drink and leaned closer, the better to talk to the leader of Crime Sorciere. "Is there something you'd like to ask me?"

"..." Jellal gulped and looked askance at Makarov. "I have no idea to what you are referring."

Makarov laughed, loud and hearty. "Relax my boy! This is a party, have a drink!"

Wakaba and Macao exchanged looks (which read like WhatDaFuQ?).

"I still don't follow."

"Jellal, you need to get over yourself and talk to the woman!"

"I do not see your reasoning."

"Erza needs some of your attention."

"Erza might want my attention, but she doesn't need the attentions of any man. She's a force to be reckoned with, as strong as nature itself— " Jellal broke off his soliloquy praising Erza as Bickslow sauntered up to him and forced a tankard into his hands.

Bickslow flipped up his ever-present visor, leered, winked and cackled. "Time to party! Drink up dude!"

The five spirit-dolls flew in a bobbling pattern around the Seith's head and chanted, "Drink! Drink! Drink!"

Wakaba, Macao, Makarov and Jellal proceeded to consume.

[IV] - Smooth Operators, Part II

He was here. She'd known that he would be, of course, since the party was an official event to encourage relationship building and collaboration between the guilds. Jellal always did his duty. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten how much she missed his physical presence. It was one thing to admit that his ideals, his sense of justice and friendship, and his quick mind impressed and captivated her, and quite another for her body to suddenly betray her by longing to be held against his tall, lean form and caressed by his strong, capable hands. She felt a shiver go through her, but she definitely wasn't cold.

For just an instant, she had thought that he would finally throw caution and scruples aside and rush to her side. Her mind had painted a picture of him kissing her passionately, totally unable to resist her any longer. Instead, he had turned away from Mira with an unconvincing smile and hurried toward the bar. She loved the way his deep blue hair was always slightly untidy, even though the rest of him wasn't. She wasn't aware that her fingers were tightening as though she could actually feel the soft, slightly springy strands.

"Um, Erza? Are you okay?" Wendy was looking anxiously up at her.

"Oh, Wendy." Erza smiled affectionately down at her young friend. For no apparent reason she wondered if she and Jellal might have a child with hair as blue as Wendy's.

Seeing that Erza was abstracted again, Wendy patted her gently on the arm and moved off to talk to Gray, who appeared to be drinking-was his drink actually pink? It seemed so… unlikely. Still, they needed to do a little more planning, apparently, if they were going to get their friends together for the evening. Wendy couldn't help but think that Erza and Jellal would look incredibly elegant and romantic dancing together.

Meanwhile, Erza was fully engaged with her fantasy world, one hand playing absently with the ends of her long red hair-she always left a few wavy strands to fall on either side of her face, even when her hair was up, as it was now. In her mind's eye, Jellal had finally told her that he loved her and couldn't live without her.

It was the night before their wedding and he'd come to see her, even though he wasn't supposed to. That's what made it so wonderful, of course: that desire for her had made him infringe on even such a minor custom. He'd kissed her-she almost thought she could feel his tongue exploring her lips and then probing more heatedly into her mouth-and one hand had-involuntarily of course-moved from the small of her back to her breast.

It was just as well that neither Mirajane nor Cana were looking in her direction, because the dreamy look on her face was rapidly becoming something more intense. Unfortunately for Erza, somebody else had noticed and even now was stretching out a delicate, well-manicured hand to say:

"Erza! My honey! Your parfum is—"

Hearing her name, Erza had turned, eyes shining and lips slightly parted to find… Ichiya of Blue Pegasus, his large face alight with ecstatic admiration.

Erza screamed. It was embarrassing, but there it was. The change from Jellal's much-loved features and sensitive touch to the vision in front of her was drastic, to say the least.

"Agh! Get away from me!" Erza wasn't afraid of much, but for some reason Ichiya's fawning (not to say drooling) attentions always unnerved her. Clutching her dessert tickets in one hand, and her skirt with the other, she rushed blindly away.

"But come back here my honey! Your parfum it is wonderful! So beautiful! So sensual!"

Ichiya was following her through the crowd, his drink spilling a little as he trotted after Erza's bare back and round, silk-covered derrière. Oddly enough, although he was slightly hindered by the throng, people didn't interfere on Erza's behalf the way they usually did. Or rather, a few people interfered, but not to prevent Ichiya from chasing Erza directly toward the bar, where Jellal had suddenly stood up, red-faced and eyes glowing with drunken fervour.

"I've got to find Erza!" he shouted, words only slightly slurred. "She's smart, an' powerful, an' nice to everyone, an', an' by the gods she has incredible breasts!"

There was a slightly muted cheer from Mirajane and Cana, who were watching their plans develop from behind the bar (with occasional forays for important activities like directing Ichiya in just the right direction).

"You go get those tits, blueberry!" Cana called to Jellal, downing half a beer. "Just take 'er away and don't bring her back until—" Mirajane put her hand over her friend's mouth at that point, because she could see Wendy turning red about thirty feet away.

Meanwhile, it had finally dawned on Jellal that Erza was rushing toward him, her expression disgusted and her wonderful brown eyes wide with fear. He wasn't sure why his head felt so muzzy, but even so he perceived the cause of her distress immediately. With surprising accuracy, given his condition, he aimed the tiniest charge of magic at Ichiya's feet and swung his beloved Erza up into his arms.

"Woohoo! Go get'er big boy! Make that grumpy ass allllll yours!" Cana had gotten away from Mirajane's half-hearted grasp and was standing on the bar to get a better view of the action. Fortunately, Wendy was halfway across the hall whispering to Gray, who looked first murderous and then grinned.

"Don't worry, Erza, I'll deal with this ruffian!" Jellal, all inhibitions flown and awash with chivalrous lust, glared at Ichiya and then kissed his beloved passionately on the mouth. Erza, completely at a loss, just stared at him, too shocked to even return the embrace.

"I am NOT a ruffian, you uncultured, undersexed, over-complicated-"

Jellal missed the rest of Ichiya's rant, as Mirajane was pushing him rather violently toward the front of the hall.

"I'll look after it, Jellal, but you'd better get Erza out of here! She shouldn't have to be bothered by such attentions, right? You should take her away from the guild for a while, right?"

"Uh, Mira?" said Erza weakly, at that point.

"Shut up!" Mirajane told her firmly, and for a wonder, the redhead obeyed.

From behind them, Jellal heard a roar of "MEEEENNNNN!" from Ichiya. Torn between defending Erza's honour and certain attractions of Mirajane's suggestion, that cry propelled him toward the door. He could easily crush them all, of course, but Erza might not like it and he had the distinct impression that there was a party going on. It really wasn't appropriate to get into a fight at a party.

He made his well-wishers hold their collective breaths when he suddenly stopped, frowning. It had occurred to him that at Fairy Tail, starting a fight might actually be the socially and morally appropriate course of action. Fortunately, Erza chose that moment to take a deep, bewildered breath, and the sight caused Jellal to lose track of what he'd been thinking. Wendy waved at him and opened the door, handing Erza a bright pink bag as Jellal trotted by.

"Your dessert, Erza! I thought you might want it! And some special chocolates that Mirajane said to give you! Happy Valentine's Day!"

She had to shout the last part down the street, as Jellal was picking up speed on the slight incline. He looked as though he might rush straight into the canal by accident.

A very short distance away, Gray was having a hurried conversation with the gondolier of a festively-decked boat sitting at the edge of the canal.

"Yes, that's right, I'm Lyon Vastia and I hired this gondola for my friends because they haven't seen each other in a while, if you know what I mean."

The gondolier wasn't overly-concerned, but he'd been told to hold the boat for a white-haired ice mage with a blue coat, not a dark-haired guy with a white coat.

"Are you an ice mage?" he asked, trying to be fair about the whole thing.

"Oh yes," answered Gray, smirking a little. "I sure am." He brought his fists together and murmured "Ice Make Floor!"

The street between Jellal and the canal suddenly sparkled with ice in the moonlight, and only battle-honed reflexes kept him on his feet as he skidded the rest of the way toward the water, tripped on the stone edge of the canal, and tipped gracelessly into the canal boat.

"They're just a little, um, warmed up, okay buddy?" Gray said to the gondolier with a knowing wink. "The guy's a wizard from out-of-town, usually pretty easy-going, but don't piss him off, right? Oh, and uh—" Gray gave the gondolier the name of the inn Jellal had chosen to stay at, in an attempt to stay away from Erza.

There were sudden shouts from the direction of the guild hall, and Gray told the gondolier to get going. Jellal had just sat up, rubbing his head, and Erza was tugging at the skirt of her evening gown.

"Gray! What are you doing?! That was-"

"Later, Erza! Just, um, look after Jellal for us! I think somebody spiked his drink and he's, um, not safe on his own! Bye!"

Gray gave the gondola a surreptitious shove with some well placed ice, and it suddenly shot ahead into the main part of the canal. Satisfied that he'd played his part as well as possible, Gray ran up the side of the street, avoiding the sheet of ice he'd created. He met Lyon halfway up, looking angry, Juvia hurrying along behind him.

"What the hell did you do with my gondola, Gray?! I had it reserved for Juvia and I. It wasn't easy to get a reservation tonight, let me tell you!"

"Is Gray-sama alright?" asked Juvia at the same time. "Gray-sama is missing his coat! Juvia will go find it!"

Gray looked down. Damn, he must've gotten distracted while trying to convince the gondolier that he was Lyon.

"Will you LISTEN to me, Gray! Are you looking for a fight? You better get that gondola BACK!"

Gray retrieved his coat from Juvia with a smile of thanks, which made the elegantly-dressed water mage sigh in happiness. Gray-sama didn't always notice when Juvia tried to help him.

"Not gonna happen, Lyon. I suggest you get over it. Also… I don't think Juvia was gonna go with you anyway."

Just as Lyon was about to respond, both doors to the guild hall burst open, and Natsu came rushing out, followed by Happy and Lucy.

"What's going on out here?" he demanded, looking around wildly. "Ichiya and the Blue Pegasus gang are taking on Mirajane an' Cana inside for some reason, but Cana told me to get lost and then I heard this guy shouting. He giving you grief?"

"As if he could!" retorted Gray, insulted.

"Yeah, but y'know he beat ya before!" taunted Natsu, ignoring Lucy tugging on his arm.

"HEY! I'm right here you know!" shouted Lyon, frustrated. "And somebody just stole my gondola!"

This caught Natsu's attention for a moment.

"You carry around a gondola? What for? I mean, you c'n just hire one if you need one, right?"

"I can go look for it!" Happy suggested, trying to be helpful.

Gray shoved both hands into his hair. This was getting out of hand. And Juvia looked really… nice… standing there all dressed up like she was-as her team-mate he should make sure she got to enjoy the party and he didn't think that brawling with Natsu or Lyon was going to help.

Just then, Wendy called out from the doorway:

"Happy! Carle was looking for you!"

Happy immediately abandoned all thoughts of canal boats.

"Really? Where is she? Is she hungry? Does she want some Valentine's Day fish?"

Wendy blinked. "Um… no. But I think she'd like to eat her dessert with you!" It had taken some convincing, but Carle had agreed to keep an eye on Happy. Not that Carle was as indifferent as she pretended, in Wendy's opinion.

"So, Juvia," said Gray, tucking his hands into his pockets and trying to look casual. Like, friendly casual.

"Yes, Gray-sama?"

"How about we go in and um, we can get some dessert too?"

Juvia beamed and clapped her hands together. Gray-sama wanted her to eat Valentine's Day cake with her! That was practically like getting engaged!

"Juvia would like to have dessert with Gray-sama! And if Gray-sama wants, he can have some of Juvia's cake as well!"

"Yeah, thanks Juvia." Gray sounded cool-he hoped-but his heart had given a tiny skip at the way Juvia had looked at him. Without a backward glance at the canal, he escorted Juvia into the guild hall.

Bitter at the failure of his plan for a romantic, hour-long gondola ride with Juvia, Lyon glared at Gray's back, but gave up the obviously unequal fight. I mean, if the stupid canal boat had been there-and Gray had been fighting with Natsu-then he was sure that Juvia would have come with him.

"So, since Gray's gone in, wanna go a round with me?" Natsu asked hopefully.

"Oh grow up!" growled Lyon, totally disgusted with the evening. "I'm going in to get a drink or several."

"Huh. Guess he really wanted that gondola," Natsu commented.

"I'm sure he did," answered Lucy, repressing a sigh.

"Well, you know what we should do, Luce?"

"What?" Lucy waited for the suggestion with something like hope but no real expectations.

"I think we should get some of that cake too! Erza chose it so I'm sure it's awesome!"

She stood there and just looked at the friendly smile Natsu wore; open and childish like always. Lucy knew her own smile was crumbling. Maybe she did have expectations - and they had suffered another crushing defeat. No keeping this one down, she sighed.

"Not in the mood for cake?" Natsu tilted his head as if seeing Lucy at a new angle would serve to gauge her emotions better. "Then let's go have some drinks." He offered her his arm, puffing out his chest as she accepted, unaware that his grin had turned prideful and a smidge possessive.

Lucy leaned into Natsu's welcome heat; escorting her like a gentleman—this was the stuff of dreams. "I'd love to."

[END of Chapter 1]

A/N: The second chapter will be posted tomorrow ~ don't be afraid to PM impracticaldemon and let her know how much you liked this ~