Part 1: Tricking Aquarius

Once again Lucy walked home from a date bummed. Oh she knew exactly why her dates never worked out for her, but she thought if she tried dating long enough she would be able to get over him. Lucy was tired of being alone all the time, tired of Aquarius always bugging her about how she was never going to get a boyfriend. Sure Lucy brushed Aquarius off or seemed to anyway whenever she made these accusations, but they actually really hurt because Lucy was beginning to think her spirit was right.

Just once she wished that she could go to her spirit and proudly tell her that she had a boyfriend, let her know that at least someone found her the least bit desirable. It was pointless however how was she supposed to get a boyfriend to get Aquarius off her back when she was helplessly in love with someone already? Helplessly in love with someone who she was certain would never see her in that sort of light.

That is what led to Lucy turning around halfway to her apartment and heading to the bar for a while. She rarely ever drank, but she was getting tired of feeling like there was something wrong with her that turned guys off. Her mother never seemed to have this problem with her father, so why couldn't Lucy find someone who would love her?

The nearest bar was one she tended to go to on the anniversary of her mother's death and other sad days. Those days the pain would get a little over board, and if she wasn't around one of her friends she found herself flirting up a storm and acting like she was drunk when she wasn't even tipsy yet. The barman had gotten used to her ordering one alcoholic beverage and then drinking normal non alcoholic drinks for the rest of the night. Both of them made it a kind of game to figure out just how many people tried to get her to go home with them when they believed her too drunk out of her mind to protest.

"Hey Lu," the bouncer called waving her right through to the jealousy of everyone else. To the bar she was Lu, even though her looks and keys on her hip made it obvious who she actually was, anyone well liked enough by the employees of the bar got a nickname. Those with a nickname were like the VIP members of the club, membership earned by how you treated the employees not that anyone figured it out until they were given VIP treatment.

"Hey Jax," she called before she headed over to the bar. "Get me something strong Davey," she sighed once she saw her only non-mage friend.

"Bad date again?" he asked sympathetically as he passed over a drink. Despite the fact that she was one hundred percent certain that Davey wasn't a mage he always seemed to know what days she was coming in. It was weird but she was glad that he seemed to know what she wanted without her really having to explain herself. He seemed to know the perfect drink for her every time.

For a while Lucy just told Davey all about her bad date still nursing the first drink. She wasn't in the mood to be hit on today, so she made it obvious that she was there for Davey and not anything else. Instead she confided in Davey all of the fears she had about why she couldn't find a guy who seemed to like her for her. For hours she just talked to him feeling better letting everything out.

She probably would have kept their conversation going if a slightly devious idea hadn't gone through her head when she saw a certain mage. He was the one she had been pining after for a long time, but she knew that he had a rule against dating guild mates the Lightning God himself aka Laxus Dreyar. For a time she had believed that he might actually want her more then he liked his stupid rule, especially since he had wanted her to be his woman once. Yet he never showed interest in her after he rejoined the guild which was killing her because she slowly began to fall for him.

Sending a wink to Davey she smirked as she downed her current drink before she began to drink her fruity drink. It looked like the type of alcoholic drink you would find in a bar, but it was a Davey original creation that made people think you were drinking alcohol when you really weren't. Lucy knew the exact moment Laxus saw her and she gave him a flirtatious wink causing his eyes to widen, and as she thought he would it made him start coming towards her. He always did seem to care about his guild mates getting drunk, although not because of them ruining the guild reputation, but rather he was afraid they would do something stupid. This was going to be fun.

"Oi Blondie what are you doing?" Laxus asked her making Lucy giggle like crazy. She really had gotten her drunk act down pat judging by the look Laxus gave her. He even looked like he wanted to snatch her drink from her hand and send her home to sleep it off.

"Drinking what's it look like Sparky," she told him rolling her eyes forgetting that she was supposed to slur her words to make it more believable. Grinning at him Lucy downed her current drink as well before giving Davey a sign to refill it. Davey seemed to realize that she knew Laxus because he wasn't giving him the usual stink eye he gave the guys who tended to hit on her.

"Maybe you shouldn't drink so much Blondie," he told her as she gulped down half of her newest drink.

It seemed that not even a dragon slayer was able to tell when someone was faking to drink. Maybe she could use this against Natsu in the future and scare him again, although Natsu was probably the only guy who had ever truly seen her drunk. It made it so that Natsu was never near her when she drank afraid of her clinging to him which made playing her game all that much easier.

"Join ma or go 'way Sparky. Ug why can not a one guy look at me," she said purposely twisting up her words as she threw her drink back and gave Laxus a glare. "Why does na guy want me, or only want me for one thing. Even Quari seems ta think na guy will ever see ma in that way," here comes the fake waterworks. Laxus really was starting to look uncomfortable with how she was acting.

"Look Blondie you just need to keep trying you'll find someone one day," he said looking awkward as he tried to reassure her.

Giving Laxus a sad smile she decided on her next course of action. "You used ta thin I was pretty, wanned ma for youse own woman. Why na now?"

Laxus actually looked uncomfortable at that question and was looking at her with round eyes. It was probably the best expression Lucy had ever gotten since she had started playing this game. Davey was even giving her a discreet thumbs up at how much of a reaction she was getting from Laxus.

"I was an ass back then Blondie and should have never said what I did. Just because you've had to deal with some creeps doesn't mean that there aren't any decent guys interested in you."

"Ya mean like ya?" she asked him smirking as she saw the panicked expression in his eyes. Then again she was afraid of hearing him out right reject her, but at least she would finally know why Laxus didn't seem to care anymore.

"I'm far from decent Blondie," he replied instead not answering her question.

"I do na care," she told him before she pressed her lips to his.

Since he believed her to be drunk she could easily steal the kiss she had always wanted to steal and he wouldn't think anything of it in the morning. Nope he would just think his drunk guild mate who was down on her luck had wanted to reassure herself that she was still desirable to men. Lucy had expected to only share a brief kiss with Laxus before he pushed her off of him. She had not expected him to deepen the kiss.

If her eyes were open they would have been showing her shock when Laxus's tongue brushed up along her lips pleading for entrance. Still being inexperienced with kissing Lucy just followed along with what he did surprised at the little shocks that were dancing along her tongue when his own brushed against hers. Then it was like they had lost all sense of what was going on around them Lucy digging her hands into Laxus's hair and deepening the kiss. He tasted like chocolate and storms an odd combination, but one that delighted her.

When Lucy finally pulled away from him panting any lipstick she had worn was now wiped off some even of Laxus's face. She wondered if the guys she kissed just lacked experience or if Laxus was really just that good of a kisser. It made her wish that she had made him think she was drunk sooner if it meant that he would kiss her like that. Although she was still shocked that Laxus hadn't ended the kiss the minute he had realized what was going on. Was it just because she was an attractive woman who had thrown herself on him, or could Laxus still be slightly attracted to her?

"Damn Blondie I didn't know you could kiss like that," Laxus said in a joking tone his eyes looking a little strange, but Lucy put it off to the light in the bar.

"If Quari had seen tha she'd leave ma 'lone," Lucy said with a pout working hard to still make herself sound drunk, although kissing Laxus had seemed to scramble her brain a bit.

Laxus's eyes seemed to widen with mischief for a minute before he quickly brushed his lips against hers. A teasing kiss that only lasted a millisecond and made Lucy want to pull him right back to her lips she only resisted him because she didn't want to get her hopes up. Why did this man have to confuse her so much?

"Hmm alright Blondie," Laxus told her his smirk speaking of trouble. He didn't elaborate on what he meant though, so Lucy just figured out he had no idea what to say. "Why don't I bring you home and you can sleep this off?"

Lucy didn't even get the chance to reply because Laxus picked her up in his strong arms and carried her out of the bar. Probably believing that she wouldn't be able to walk on her own because of the trick she was playing on him originally she would have told him she wasn't actually drunk, but there was no way she was going to admit to him that she had kissed him when she was very much aware of what she was doing. Maybe she could just act like she didn't remember the kiss in the morning and make Laxus leave her alone. She should have remembered that Laxus liked to play with fire and rarely ever got burned.

They arrived at her apartment a lot sooner than Lucy would have wished, but she was glad when Laxus put her down outside her door. A part of here was afraid that she might take things farther than she was ready for if Laxus came into her apartment. Far enough that she would never want to be in his presence again because it would be too torturous knowing he didn't feel the same.

Opening the door although making sure she fumbled a bit Lucy turned to say goodbye to Laxus and was shocked as for the third time that night Laxus's lips met hers. The kiss was a quick one full of promises, promise of what she had no idea, and then he was gone in a flash of lightning leaving her to wonder if anything had happened at all or if her overactive imagination had just given her a very realistic day dream.

The next morning when Lucy went to the guild she was aware of the strange looks she was receiving from everyone. Originally she thought that Natsu or another member of her team had done something stupid again. That is until she ended up reading the newest Sorcerer Weekly well drinking a smoothie. There on the cover much to her shock was a picture of the bar Lucy frequented, but the couple in the picture was clearly her and Laxus. Well there goes her trying to act as if she had never given into her feelings for the lightning dragon slayer. Plus if everyone else in the guild had seen this picture it definitely explained why everyone was acting so weird today.

Mavis what was Laxus going to do to her when he found out that everyone seemed to think they were a couple. Reading over the story she was upset to see that witness, one of whom was Davey, had reported to seeing her and Laxus leaving together, or rather Laxus carrying her out of the bar. The way it was written was like the two of them couldn't hold it in any longer and had done a lot more then kissing after they had left the bar.

Perhaps she would be able to grab Natsu and the rest of the team and run before Laxus arrived. A month or two gone on a mission without her and Laxus being near each other would surely kill the rumors. Glancing around the guild Lucy prayed to find Natsu and their team before Laxus arrived. Unfortunately her prayers went unanswered when she saw Laxus with a very smug expression coming towards her. The look in his eyes keeping her frozen in her spot instead of doing the smart thing and running away, all of her courage from last night completely gone.

Before she could even say anything to Laxus she and the rest of the guild were shocked when Laxus planted his lips on hers. Seriously what was with him kissing her all the time and giving her hope for something that would totally not end up happening? Maybe he was just toying with her and knew she actually had feelings for him, no that couldn't be it maybe he would have before the whole Fantasia thing, but he truly had changed since then.

"Oi is it wrong to kiss my girlfriend?" Laxus called to the rest of the guild who were staring at them gobsmacked. Lucy was certain that the expression on her face was a lot more intense though. Not once last night had Laxus ever said anything like this, and she wondered if maybe he was just trying to play a trick on her.

Lucy went to protest what he just said, but Laxus put his hand over her mouth and leaned in closer. "You wanted to show your mermaid spirit that you could get a guy didn't you? Just play along and in a few weeks we'll stage a big breakup, but have your spirit off your back for a bit."

She really couldn't believe what Laxus was saying. It was sweet, but at the same time really really really strange! What would Laxus get out of pretending to be her boyfriend so that Aquarius would leave her alone? Nothing really, other than apparently kissing her as often as he felt like plus a bunch of ribbing from the other members of the guild about their relationship, not to mention Mira would start her muttering about babies again. Sometimes Mira got really creepy when she started talking about children, and it made Lucy wish Freed would make his move already and that Mira would focus more on her love life then the rest of the guilds. You would have thought Mira would have gotten better with Asuka, but then again she had missed Asuka's early years.

"Fine, but just a few weeks and nothing more than kissing?" she whispered back.

Maybe a break from the dating scene for a while would be good for her. Plus it's not like Laxus and her would really do a lot of couple like things.

Lucy's original thoughts couldn't have been more wrong about the subject. That first night the guild had bugged them like crazy about their relationship and most of what Laxus said wasn't a lie. He told them he had been attracted to her since before the Phantom Lord incident, which both Mira and Cana confirmed. Then said that they hadn't been together long and had just clicked the night before, and then when Erza looked like she was going to attack him he reassured them that he had only dropped her off at her apartment last night nothing more.

With her emotions being heightened Loke ended up coming through his gate on his own, and was shocked at the news before he disappeared in a cloud of sparkles. Obviously leaving so that he could go and inform the rest of her spirits about her new boyfriend, he didn't even pretend to be heartbroken about her supposed status. That night Aquarius had appeared when she was in the tub and asked her if it was true. It was difficult for Lucy to lie to her oldest spirit but she had confirmed it and been a little shocked at what Aquarius had told her.

"Always thought there was some sort of bond between you two brat," and then Aquarius had just left after smiling brightly at her. Looking happy that Lucy was with someone, and Lucy began feeling bad about the lie. That led her to thinking that maybe Aquarius bugging her about her relationship status was because she wanted Lucy to be happy just as her mother had been with her father.

If all of that wasn't bad enough Laxus was taking things too far and was even taking her on dates that had her heart pounding. If it wasn't because of Laxus telling her that he was doing this so that Aquarius would lay off of her she would have been suckered in because the way he looked at her almost seemed like he was in love with her. It was driving Lucy crazy seeing him look at her like that and yet know that it was fake. So she had asked Laxus to meet her at her place so they could talk privately. She just couldn't lie to everyone anymore and she couldn't take the pain!

Lucy had spent the day wondering just how to tell Laxus that she didn't need him to pretend to be her boyfriend anymore. There was just no point in it when all it was doing was hurting people. Yet despite the pain the last few days with Laxus had been the happiest of her life, and she knew she would never be this happy again. She was even thinking of leaving Fairy Tail for a time so that she didn't have to deal with this sadness anymore. Leave long enough so that she could get over Laxus, and make it so that no one would ever realize just how much she felt for him.

A knock on her door shocked Lucy for a moment. Not once had anyone she known ever knocked on her door. They all just barged in and made themselves at home. So it wasn't really surprising for people who knew this for her to end u dropping the cup she had been holding and the glass shattering on the floor. Leading to a concerned looking Laxus to burst through her door lighting surrounding him as he looked around for a threat seeing none he had realized the cup on the floor and looked at her concerned like he was trying to make sure she hadn't been hurt. She was shocked when Laxus carefully walked over the broken shards to pick her up and place her on her couch before checking her feet making sure there were no shards in them. Then before she could say anything to him he had disappeared again to clean up the mess on her floor, a stern look kept her from helping him.

When he was finally done and back in front of her Lucy broke the silence, "you didn't need to do that you know I could have easily cleaned it up myself."

"You would have ended up cutting your feet in the process Blondie I know how much of a klutz you are," he told her with his signature smirk. "Now why don't you tell me what we need to talk about here that we couldn't talk about at the guild?" he almost looked afraid as he asked her that question. Though Lucy had no idea what Laxus could possibly be afraid of surely he would be relieved that he would no longer have to pretend that they were a couple?

Lucy felt nervous wondering what exactly she could say everything she had rehearsed and thought of earlier fleeing her mind. She was terrified that she would somehow reveal her own feelings to him when she told him that she didn't want to do this anymore. Afraid that Laxus would end up seeing the pain she was feeling on her face. Knowing that she should have never agreed with this stupid farce and told everyone that it was all just a big joke, but whenever Laxus kissed her she seemed to lose all sense and reason.

"I don't think we should do this anymore?" she told him refusing to look in his eyes hoping that if he couldn't see her eyes he couldn't see the pain in them.

"Do what sit on your couch Blondie?" Laxus asked sounding like he was trying to joke, but there was a surprising undertone of pain in his voice. That quality making Lucy sneak a peek at Laxus and she was surprised to see the amount of raw pain shining in his eyes. Making her wonder for just a moment if maybe Laxus felt the same way as her, that just maybe he loved her just as much as she loved him. It was silly though wasn't it?

"I mean pretend to be together," she told him averting her eyes again and scrambling to talk through the sudden swollen feeling in her throat. She couldn't believe just how hard it was doing this and wondered if it would feel the same or be much worse if they had been in a real relationship.

"Why?" Laxus asked her that simple word holding so much emotion that she wondered how he was able to speak at all.

"It's wrong we're lying to everyone we care about." The truth and yet a lie at the same time.

"That's not good enough Lucy! Why is that suddenly bugging you when it didn't before? Tell me the truth!" Her head jerked up in shock. Not once had she ever heard Laxus actually call her by her name.

Why did he have to be so against her ending this? What did he want her to admit to him that she loved him? Want her to admit that pretending to be with him was killing her? Why couldn't he just accept that she decided to end their little arrangement? Couldn't he just let her end this with some dignity?

"Why aren't you answering me Lucy!? Did you find out I love you and decide that you couldn't lead me on anymore? Can't you even think of giving me a chance? I know I'm not the best of guys, but I thought maybe with how you talked to me when we were at the bar that just maybe you felt something for me to. Or was it just because I was the closest guy there?"

Lucy stared at Laxus in shock at his confession. He loved her he actually loved her and he thought she didn't feel the same way. He thought that she only acted that way around him because he was convenient. Not knowing that being near him was torture when she had thought that he would never be hers. Here she had been thinking that she wasn't good enough for him, but he thought he wasn't good enough for her.

Apparently she had been quiet for too long because Laxus just bowed his head looking like he was going to break and went to leave. Taking her silence as her rejection of his feelings he was going to run away from her, and she feared she would never see him again if he walked out that door.

"WAIT!" she cried before he could reach the door not wanting him to leave.

"Why so you can confirm what I already know? So that you can tell me you can never love me?"

Lucy shocked both herself and Laxus when she smacked him. "Never and I mean never presume to know my feelings. Mavis I've been in love with you for ages, but you never let on that you felt the same. I thought you were just doing this to help me and be a good Nakama. I took it as my chance to be with you, but I didn't factor in how much it would hurt knowing that you didn't love me the same way. How much it tortured me believing that each kiss every date meant nothing to you when it meant the world to me. You are a fool Laxus Dreyar if you think I don't love you."

Laxus looked at her with wide eyes before he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. This time both of them making sure to convey in their kiss just how much they loved each other.

Six months later after coming clean to the guild and her spirits Lucy and Laxus got married. Their story that had started out as tricking her spirit ended up bringing them together despite their fears. When they had children they told them of how their relationship had begun by Tricking Aquarius.