What do you get 3 months after the last chapter of this story was uploaded? A lousy author with... *Drum roll* an epilogue! Set one year after the last three chapters, the first bit of it was written the day after I finished the first three chapters, the rest yesterday. So, a massive, colossal SORRY to my beautiful, beautiful readers who asked for an epilogue and have to deal with a forgetful, procrastinating author.
Oh and please excuse the sudden change from "double quotation marks" to 'single quotation marks'. It's a bother, I know, and I'm sorry (again) but I can't help it! It's hot wired into my brain now...

Anywho, disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

Much love to all those who reviewed, I love you. And for those who didn't review but read and (hopefully) enjoyed, I love you, too. xx

EPILOGUE!

*One year later*

The sun was out and shining brightly over the town of Magnolia. Right at the edge of town, was the Fairy Tail building, currently the number 1 guild in Fiore. After winning the Grand Magic games nearly two years ago, Fairy Tail had received enough money to renovate and move back into their first guild building, the one situated near the coast. Mirajane sighed and looked lovingly around her beloved guild from where she was cleaning a glass behind the bar. After their popularity rose, they had gained so many more members, and Mira smiled as she watched everyone get along nice and quietly. It was so nice to have a day with no fights, no arguing, and no-

*SPLAT*

'...'

'Who...' A voice, trembling with anger broke the deadly silence. 'WHO JUST KNOCKED MY CAKE DOWN?!' Erza rose from her seat, her eyes glowing red and a dark aura coming off her body. A few feet away, Wakaba cowered against a pillar, guilty as hell.

'ARRRGGHHH!' Erza, in one swift movement, picked Wakaba up by the collar of his shirt and chucked him to the other side of the room, watching as he slammed into Cana, spilling her barrel of booze.

'Hey!' She shouted, throwing her mug in Wakaba's direction, but it bounced off the floor and hit Natsu in the face.

'OH YEAH, YOU WANNA FIGHT?!' Natsu yelled out to no one in particular and hit Macao in the face.

'WHY YOU-!' The latter yelled and kicked out, but hit Max, who hit Gajeel, who hit Elfman.

'MAN!' Elfman yelled and swung his beast arm out, hitting three people at once. Mirajane sweat-dropped at the sight of the five minutes ago peaceful guild hall, now brawling everywhere, tables were flying here, benches flying there, people, pets, you name it, were flying across the guild, hitting more people, and getting them into the fight. But Mira relaxed and giggled. There was no such thing as peace in this guild, and there probably never will be. But that's what she liked about it.

Noticing the time, Mira smiled and grabbed her coat, slipping it on and walking to the doors, ducking casually as someone flew over her head.

She hummed contentedly on her way to Magnolia's train station, where she would be meeting Gray and Lucy, back from their three-week-vacation on a popular holiday island. And Mirajane, being the matchmaker that she is, couldn't just not see them arrive and be the first to know all the juicy details from Lucy.

Arriving at the station, the white-haired take over mage beamed as the train pulled up, and a tired, yet cheerful Lucy stepped out of the carriage, a suitcase in hand.

'Lucy!' Mirajane squealed before running to the blonde, throwing her arms around her. Lucy jumped up and down with Mira, squealing with her until Mira gasped, holding Lucy out at arms length as the examined her body. 'You are so brown! I'm so jealous, I can never tan!'

Lucy blushed and smiled, adjusting the crooked sunglasses on her head. 'It's so nice to see you again, I've missed everyone so much. I can't wait to tell you all about the trip!'

'Oh, hey, Mira! Wasn't expecting to see you here,' Gray's voice came from behind Lucy, and he appeared, carrying about seven bags. Mira fought the urge to laugh. He was as brown as a nut. Lucy smiled brightly at him as he dumped the bags down with a sigh and slung an arm around her shoulders.

'So will you be coming straight to the guild, or...?' Asked Mira, waiting for an answer.

'Erm,' Gray said, exchanging a glance with Lucy. 'We'll drop the bags off at the apartment then head straight for the guild, alright?' Mira smiled and nodded, and they left the train station together before heading in different directions.

Lucy sighed happily as she and Gray walked back to their apartment (hers, originally), hand in hand. 'It feels good to be home,' she said, smiling at her surroundings like they were old friends. They approached the door, and Gray unlocked the door, holding it open for her before dragging in all the luggage. After leaving the bags in the most organised manner they could manage, the couple left for the guild, being excitedly greeted at the entrance.

Most of the girls swarmed around Lucy, begging her for details, Cana making her blush by elbowing her in the ribs and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Gray, on the other hand, was greeted with claps on the back and whoops. Finally, the guild settled down to their usual rowdiness, feeling a lot more complete now that two of their wizards were back home. The night lasted for a long time, full of drinks and laughter and happiness. It was nearly 3:00 am before Gray and Lucy were back in their apartment, getting ready for bed.

'Hey, Lucy,' Gray whispered from where he was standing beside an open window, clad, of course, in only his boxers. Lucy looked up from her seat in front of her vanity table. 'Come and see this.'

'What?' She asked, walking over and frowning, before looking up at the sky and gasping. There in the inky black sky, amongst the little dotted stars, where shooting stars, plenty of them, maybe four every ten seconds. 'Oh,' she whispered, 'that's so beautiful...'

'Make a wish. Make as many as you want,' said Gray, hugging her from behind and kissing her temple. Lucy leant into his back and let her head rest on his shoulder before smiling up at the stars.

'I have everything I need,' she murmured. Gray's cool lips pressed against her jaw and her cheek, the corner of her mouth, before she giggled as he scooped her into his arms and carried her to their bed. Their kisses turned to cuddles, and for a while they laid there in each other's arms, limbs tangled together, speaking softly of first dates and first kisses, first jobs together and each other.

Finally, as they both slowly grew silent, Lucy found herself laying with her head on Gray's chest, his arms around her and their legs entangled, gazing at the silver, ice blue sapphire-studded promise ring Gray had given to her a month ago. 'What does it mean?' She asked, already knowing the answer to her own question.

'Why do you want to know?' Came a sleepy voice from above her.

'I forgot what you said to me,' She lied, only saying so because she loved hearing it again. Gray chuckled, the sound vibrating deep in his his chest before tightening his arms around Lucy. He knew when she was lying, but if it made her happy, then he would repeat himself until his voice left him.

'Well, it's a promise ring,' he started out, repeating the words he had already said over ten times, but everytime making Lucy feel as if it was the first time, 'I gave it to you to represent all the promises I've made to you and to myself, to our relationship. And these are promises I will never, ever break.'

'What did you promise?' Lucy prompted him, feeling her eyes growing heavy at the soft, soothing words of the man she loved.

He chuckled again, craning his neck to kiss the top of her head. 'I promised that I will make you happy, I promised that I will love you with all my heart and nothing less, I promised that I will be here to kiss you goodnight, I promised that I will never let you feel lonely, I promised that I will make you feel like the most beautiful girl in the world everyday, I promised that I will always be here to wipe your tears away, I promised that I will never let anything or anyone ever hurt you, I promised that I will never, ever hurt you, I promised that you will always be the only one for me, my one and only. And then I promised that one day, I would say the words that will bind us together forever, until death do us part.'

He looked down at Lucy, and saw her smiling as her eyelids finally slid shut. He smiled softly and stroked her golden hair, letting the familiar, comforting rhythm of her breathing lull him into a dreamless sleep.

THE END

So that is officially the END of Snowflake in a Desert, a big massive thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited, followed, and even just read. I love you all so much. And again... I'M SORRY THIS IS THREE MONTHS LATE D: I hope that this epilogue makes up for it..
Please let me know what you think, and if you want, check out my other stories! I don't have any more GraLu stories, but for those of you who like Jerza (my fave ship ;) ) I uploaded a one shot two days ago, called One Last Time, and I'm actually really proud of it :)
SO MUCH LOVE TO YOU GUYS xx -mneg998 :) *HUGS*