Author's Note- This was hell. I had such irritating writer's block with this prompt, I wanted to just delete the whole thing.

I barely made the deadline, seeing as it is going to be midnight here. So...this isn't as good as what I wanted it to be.

It's a Modern AU. Story is based on how stuff is here in my country, so it might be different than what you guys are used to.

Funny, the story is EXACTLY 4300 words. Lol.

Day 7- Father: Drama

Excited, Lucy though, was putting it mildly.

Their school had one annual function every year. It alternated from a sports display to a stage display each year. This year was a concert year, and Lucy was very excited. Their class had been given to put up a drama, something for which Lucy was eternally grateful. The other option was a dance display, and she really didn't like dancing.

"Lucy! We won't have the third period!" Levy, her friend, was whining to her. "It's okay Levy, I am sure Mr Gildarts will cover it in one of our free periods."

They had been called to the auditorium for practices. The concert was in a month and the teachers had finally decided what play their classes would be putting up. So that meant for the whole batch of 12th would have to start their practices. They were doing it in their third period, which was physics for 12-C. Levy, who it seemed like breathed to study, was extremely worried.

"Yeah Levy! Cheer up! We are getting to legally skip periods!" Lucy turned to see the pink head of one of her best friends. "Natsu, I personally agree with your sentiment, but this is Levy. You're not helping." He simply sighed and went ahead to demand a fight with their fellow batch mate Elfman.

Lucy laughed as she observed her friends. Juvia was picking up a discarded school shirt, undoubtedly one Gray must have dropped. Erza was discussing the variety of strawberry cakes that might be present today for lunch with Lisanna. Her sister, Mira, was walking with a junior, Meredy, and a fellow batch mate, Sorano and talking about the latest ships in their favourite anime. Lucy knew for a fact that Meredy had History right now, but she let the girl bunk anyway.

Lucy was the daughter of one of the richest men in the country- Jude Heartfilia. She had spent her childhood playing with her now deceased mother, and her pre teens trying desperately to please her father, who was never satisfied. He decided to send her away to a boarding school, like all rich men eventually end up doing. But Lucy refused to go to the school of his liking, and instead was adamant that it would be Fairy Tail or nothing.

So he relentled, and Lucy joined the school. And finally, Lucy's life took a turn for the better. She met her best friend, Natsu Dragneel, on the first day. She was warmly welcomed by everyone, and for the first time in her life had friends. Even in her childhood, she was never allowed to interact with kids her age, and the only person close to a friend was her mother. So when she died, Lucy because alone. It left a wide, gaping hole in her heart which kept growing bigger every day, till she joined Fairy Tail.

Now, she was never lonely.

They were quickly ushered into the hall, and made to sit section wise. Once everyone was in, 12-A's class teacher, Miss Carla, went up to the stage, dogmatically followed by Lucy's class teacher, Mr Happy.

Lucy sometimes wondered. Who would in their right minds name their child Happy? It seemed like such a Natsu move, totally idiotic. The man was doomed to mockery for the rest of his life.

"Class 12, as you all already know, the concert is coming. We have to put up a play, and after heavy discussion we have decided to do "The Contest of the Gods". It's based on Greek Mythology. Does anyone know about the contest over Athens?" Next to Lucy, Levy's well practiced hand shot up. Carla nodded at the bluenette. "Poseidon and Athena contested over who would be the patron deity for the city state of Athens."

"Yes, that is correct. You all will enact the whole incident. I have the casting here with me, so everyone please maintain silence." Everyone shut up. Miss Carla had a reputation, and not a good one.

"Poseidon, God of the seas- Sting Eucliffe 12-B." Sting fist pumped the air while Orga clapped his back. Then his best friend, Rogue, leaned in. "Sting, Poseidon loses in the contest." At that Sting looked pissed. "Hey! Miss Carla! Change my role! I wanna win!"

"Athena wins, Eucliffe. Do you want to be a girl?" Horrified, he shook his head while the whole hall started laughing. "I thought so. Now, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Skill, will actually be Lucy Heartfilia of 12-C."

Lucy froze in her position while her friends started congratulating her. Sting cursed under his breath. "Damn, I'll lose to Blondie." Rogue smirked. "There are worse ways of losing."

"SILENCE!" The auditorium was completely silent. Nobody messed with an irritated Miss Carla. "Now, where was I? Ah yes. Cecrops, the King of Athens will be played by Erik of 12-B." Lucy looked over to her best frenemy. They had had their disagreements when he had joined the school, but now Erik was Lucy's go to guy to let off steam. An hour with him cursing life in general, and she felt good as new.

He gave her his signature smirk. "Seems like you will be groveling for my approval Bright Eyes." He never called anyone by their name, so Bright Eyes it was. It was way better than half of the names he came up with, so she didn't mind.

"Hephaestus, God of Fire and Forge- Natsu Dragneel 12-C." Natsu looked over the moon to be even selected. Gray smirked. "You know Natsu, Hephaestus was so ugly that his own mother, Hera, threw him off a mountain." Nastu took some time to register the meaning of the words. "Hey! I ain't ugly! Hera, come fight me!"

"Natsu Dragneel, please be quiet. Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and wife of Hephaestus- Juvia Lockser 12-A." At that Juvia gave a pitiful moan. "No, Juvia loves Gray-sama, not his enemy!"

"Ares, God of War- Gray Fullbuster 12-C." An idea popped up in Lucy's head. "Juvia, you know that Aphrodite cheats on Hephaestus with Ares?"

"Fuck Lucy! Why did you have to tell her that?"

"Gray Fullbuster, do you wish to leave? No? Good. Apollo, God of the Sun, Music, Shepards etc and twin brother of Artemis- Gajeel Redfox 12-A." He grinned. "Someone noticed my musical talent."

Everyone shivered at the thought of Gajeel singing during the play.

"Artemis- Goddess of the Moon, The Hunt, Chastity etc and twin sister of Apollo- Erza Scarlet 12-C." Erza and Gajeel glared at each other. Jellal looked pale, and was muttering something under his breath. Lucy shifted a little to listed in. "Chastity...virginity...Erza..."

Lucy shifted back to her previous position. She would definitely be teasing the redhead later.

"Hades, God of the Underworld and Dead- Rogue Cheney 12-B." Next to Sting, the brunette sighed. "Goddamn, now I'll have to bear with Sting there too."

"Demeter, Goddesses of Harvest- Cana Alberona 12-C." Cana looked here and there in confusion. "Who in their right minds would give me a role?"

"Hermes, God of Flock, Roads, Travelling etc- Jellal Fernandez 12-B." He paled even more at the statement for some reason.

"Hera, Goddess of Marriage and the Queen of the Gods- Mirajane Strauss 12-C." Lisanna hugged her sister. "Good going!"

"Lastly, Zeus, God of Sky and Thunder, The Supreme God- Laxus Dreyar of 12-A. Backstage help- Levy McGarden and Sorano and Yukino Agria. All those whose name have been called out, stay. Rest, leave." After bidding her friends bye, Lucy wandered off to break up Natsu and Gray's fight.

Laxus Dreyar.

Her eyes wandered to Laxus. He was sitting alone, since his group of followers- the Thunder Legion, they called themselves- were not selected. They called themselves that because Laxus was called Lightning on the field due to his excellent performance. He looked bored, his stormy blue eyes wandering from here to there.

He was the grandson of the principal, Makarov Dreyar. But he never threw that around. He perfected everything he did. His grades were the top of his class. All track and field events he had ever undertaken, he won. Nobody could bench press more than him in the entire batch.

And damn if that wasn't just the tip of the iceberg.

Lucy would be lying to herself if she said that she wasn't interested in diving into the water and seeing the rest of the iceberg. She had caught herself many times staring at the blond hunk, and so had Natsu. Thankfully he didn't say anything about it to anyone else, Lucy would be dead if Mira found out about her little crush on the athlete.

But she wasn't planning to do anything about that, because the only time they had interacted was when Mira had called him to request him to join the inter school sports competition they had with Phantom Lord, which was incidentally where Gajeel had met Levy, and Juvia had fallen for Gray. Later when the school shut down, they joined Fairy Tail.

Laxus had simply scoffed and said that he would come if Lucy agreed to be his girl. Before Lucy herself could say anything, Mira had promptly cut the call.

Phantom Lord had been the school Lucy was to join before she had rebelled against her father. After sending her to Fairy Tail, he had once again changed his mind and planned to take her out. She said that Fairy Tail is the better school, so her father agreed to a wager. If Fairy Tail manages to defeat Phantom Lord in the sports competition, then she can stay. Her friends had supported her fully, and had trained to beat the school for a month. But Laxus was their star athlete, and with his help it would have been a breeze.

The managed to scrape through, and Lucy stayed.

So her experiences with the blond were not exactly pleasant, but that hadn't stopped her brain from noticing how good looking he was. Or how intelligent. Or how serious.

She would just avoid him and hope for the best.

"Okay, here at the scripts. Read them properly. You should have memorised them by the next week. Now, who will be the incharge of the practices?" Miss Carla distributed the scrips and looked from student to student. Her gaze rested on Lucy, who promptly tried to hide behind Erza.

"Lucy Heartfilia, you're responsible for the practices. The hall is yours for the third, fourth and eighth period everyday. And after school hours, of course." Lucy nodded at the teacher. "I will be seeing the entire play in three weeks." Lucy groaned internally, but kept her composure.

At least, till the teachers left.

As soon as Miss Carla's foot was out the door, she slumped her shoulders. "So Blondie, you gonna start the practices now?" The deep voice sent shivers down her spine.

"You're blond too, jackass." For some reason his tone made Lucy's blood boil. He sneered at her. "Fine, we gonna have the practices today, Princess?"

Stalking up to him with heavy steps, she glared at him. "Nice scar, want me to rip you a new one?" He narrowed his eyes at her, while the rest of them grew silent.

Nobody had seen the sweet blonde this angry, and definitely not at Laxus. Everyone was staring at them with wide eyes, except Erik who was smirking, as was his custom.

"You? Hit me? Have you seen yourself? You're all fat and no muscle, Princess. Not that I wouldn't mind being pressed between those thunder thighs you seem to be so proud of."

"Oh I'll bet you won't mind. Just don't pass you if I touch you, because I have heard that happening to boys who haven't gotten action in a long time."

"Boys do that, not men Princess. And if I did get between there, you'll be purring like a cat in no time."

"It wouldn't do to forget Scarface, that felines had claws. So you admit you haven't seen some action in a long time. And who says that you're getting anywhere near me?"

"Depends what you call a long time. For me, even a week is too long. And who wants to be near you?"

"I'll inform you that almost all men would want to be near me. I'm more worried about you Daddy, with that sneer you won't be getting any action."

"Have you finally lost it? Apart from the fact that women drool over this daily, Daddy? Really?"

"Oh, didn't you know? Athena is Zeus's daughter."

Everyone stared, silently, as they threw retort after retort at each other, while Erik looked at the female blonde with pride.

Suddenly the door banged open, startling everyone. It was Lisanna. "Don't you want to go for lunch?"

They had spent an entire lesson abusing each other.

Lucy stared the practices the next day, and found a big problem.

Laxus.

Either he couldn't act for the life of him, or he just refused to do so. But whatever the reason, Lucy was convinced that if he didn't perform, it would be her head on the platter.

"Laxus! At least say the correct dialogue!"

"Piss off, Blondie."

Every day it was the same. He was worse than Erza at acting, and that was saying something seeing as she didn't even have any dialogues because of it. She had initially had one dialogue, which Lucy had been forced to give to Cana.

But as the Supreme God, Lucy couldn't do the same for him, and pestered him everyday during the practices. And then went to visit Erik, because she really needed someone to listen who wouldn't mind her not so PG-13 curses.

Okay, she was extremely explicit.

But she was also extremely pissed.

"I just want to take my fist and shove it up his arrog-" Erik cut her off. "Bright Eyes, I can't understand why you can't see it, but relax. You look like shit, and I know it's his fault. Tomorrow we have to show the play to Miss Carla."

"I know Erik, that's why I am so worried!"

Worry didn't let Lucy sleep. She kept tossing and turning around in her blanket, and eventually discarded it altogether. When she woke up the next day, she was cold and sleep deprived.

"Damn Luce, you look like shit." Lucy's leg muscles twitched at hearing the same phrase being used at her in twenty four hours, but she abstained. "No shit Sherlock. I couldn't sleep last night."

Her head throbbed, but she continued standing at the edge of the stage. "Sting, get into position." Erik dragged the blond to the stage. She was very grateful to her frenemy, he was her second in command. His dark stare could move anyone.

"Damnit, Miss Carla is here! Natsu! Gray! Stop fighting backstage, everyone can hear you! Sting, quick!" And then she jumped on the stage as the teachers entered the auditorium, quickly giving one stink eye to the people on her side, hidden to the audience by partitions.

Levy, who was backstage, gave the introduction of the play. Breathing deeply and ignoring the headache which refused to go away, Lucy stepped up and set the ball rolling.

Lucy's headache kept increasing as the play folded, and she breathed a sigh of relief at every successful dialogue spoken by the others. She was worried. As soon as the first act was over and the curtain fell, she ran to change the props with the others, and stopped. She was trembling.

It was the scene with Laxus and Erza. This was the most crucial point, because if any scene would be messed up, it was this. She felt feverish, but tried to ignore it like the headache.

"I address the court of the Gods to demand an answer for our current predicament."

Next was Laxus's dialogue. She couldn't hear anything. Strange, why had the world fallen silent? Laxus looked straight into her eyes. The stage looked dimmer than usual. Did someone switch off the lights?

Laxus opened his mouth to speak, and Lucy knew no more.

"Idiotic girl! Who let her get up on that stage?"

She fluttered her eyes open. The head of the infirmary, Porlyusica, was staring down at her. "Ah, you're awake. Good, here have these medicines." The cranky lady shoved some pills in Lucy's hand as the latter sat up.

Wendy, the student helper in the infirmary, offered her a glass of water. Lucy quickly gulped down the pills. "What happened?" Her throat hurt, and her voice was raw.

"Worry happened! You must have caught the cold in the night, and then it got triggered when you were on the stage. You fainted." Lucy stared at the lady in shock.

"What happened to the play?" She scoffed and went out the room. "They continued without you Lucy-san. And you should go to sleep, you need to be well rested to get well soon!" Lucy thanked Wendy and sunk into the pillows.

The next time she woke up, it was morning. She felt better than she had done in days. Stretching, she got up. "So you're awake. Here are your pills." Obediently, she took the pills. "So can I go now?"

"No. You are not leaving here till the evening of the concert. That too only because apparently the you have a role. I would have refused, since that is the reason you're sick, but then principal insists." At that she mumbled something under her breath that sounded like profanities to Lucy.

She could be wrong.

But this was Porlyusica, she didn't think she was wrong.

"But I have to see to the practices!" Lucy started to get out of her bed and was promptly hit on her head with a broom. "Stupid girl! When I say that you stay, you STAY." Lucy nodded, scared.

"Good. Here, these are for you." She handed Lucy three letters.

She opened the first one and sighed. The untidy scrawl she was acquainted with took a time to decipher.

Luce,

The demon won't let me meet you! She said to write down whatever I want to the you. Meanie. We miss you, and it's only been one day! Lisanna won't let me break into her dorm room!

Get well soon Luce!

Natsu.

Laughing, she folded it back. Lucy knew why Lisanna didn't want him to enter. The whole school was well aware of her crush over the pink haired boy.

She picked up the second letter and couldn't help but compard this neat, tiny handwriting with the girl who wrote it.

Dear Lu-chan,

I hope you're okay now. I got such a shock when you simply collapsed. It was a good thing that Sting caught you, otherwise you would have cracked your skull open. I'll make sure to make two copies of all the notes we get till you come back, so don't worry!

Levy.

Lucy smiled. Her friends looked out for her no matter how.

The next letter was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

Lucy,

Get well soon. I'll try to get some strawberry cake for you in the infirmary, because it always works when I am sick. I should have noticed sooner that you were unwell. You have full permission to punish me for my lack of awareness.

Erza.

The handwriting of the last letter was one Lucy recognized instantly, although that was a recent development.

The Greatest Idiot out there,

I told you to relax! And now you're stuck there in that godforsaken place! Any place being ruled by that devil woman is godforsaken. I've officially taken over the practices, and that includes Laxus as well, so don't get your panties in a twist about them anymore.

Get well soon Bright Eyes, I need my cussing partner to get through this week.

Erik.

Lucy could practically hear her friend saying the worda with his smirk in place.

Sighing, she put all the letters under her pillow. Looking at the table next to her, she saw another letter there, one she hadn't seen before. She picked it up.

It was not a hand she recognized.

Get well soon, the world is not interesting without you anymore .

Lucy stared at the words, heat rising in her cheeks.

It was kinda romantic.

She turned the page to look for a signature, but all she found was a scrawl of a pen, done as though to see whether it worked or not.

The rest of the week passed very slowly for Lucy. As it turned out, Porlyusica had banned any member of the play to visit her, because they could tell her information which would make her worry again. She tried to study, but her mind didn't let her.

So she resorted to read through the play's script so many times, she was sure that she remembered everyone's lines.

She was extremely glad when the day of the play finally came, and she was allowed to get ready for it in the afternoon. She quickly ran to the auditorium.

"Hey Luce! You're back!" She was almost tackled by Natsu, but he was stopped by Gajeel. "Get ready Bunny Girl, your costume is with the girls." She went to the girls changing room and was tackled (successfully) by a blur of red hair.

"Lucy!" She hugged her back, happy to see her friend again. "Can't.. breathe.."

Soon they had strapped her into her costume, put makeup, brushed her hair, and she was ready. She went out to see the boys, and was greeted with a familiar smirk. "You ready to grovel, Bright Eyes?"

She looked over Erik once. She had known that the King of Athens was half snake, but she hadn't expected how natural Erik would look in the costume. "I think you were really meant to be a snake Erik. The costume suits you more than your legs."

"Back Princess?" Lucy turned to see the man, and froze. He was perfect. A crown rested on his blonde hair, and a white toga was draped around his body. She highly appreciated how the costume showed more than it hid, giving her a great view of his drool worthy muscles. The lightning bolt on his hand looked normal in his hand, as though he was made to wield lightning. His name on the field suited him in many ways.

"Yes Daddy. Thanks for worrying though."

His eyes were stormy, and they were making it hard for her to focus. Something tapped her shoulder and she was jolted awake from her reverie. "It's about to start Bright Eyes. Let's go."

She quickly ran to the center of the stage, and after a curt nod to Sting, focused on the curtain in front of her.

Just as Levy's description was over, Lucy took a deep breath. A spotlight hit her and the curtains started going up.

It's show time.

Lucy had never been more giddy in her entire life.

The play was a massive success. Natsu and Gray didn't start fighting on the stage, Erza managed to stay poker straight, Cana wasn't drunk. But that wasn't the most surprising part.

Laxus was perfect.

He acted perfectly, his timing was impeccable, and he remembered every dialogue without a fault.

Clearly she was very bad at correcting people, because Erik seems to have done the impossible.

They were all backstage, since all the participants would only leave when the entire concert was over. "Erik, how did you do it?"

He turned away from some juniors who were hitting on him. "What did I do Bright Eyes?" The girls, clearly thinking that the name meant intimacy, grumbled and left. "Damnit. You should really date someone, make things easier for me. Every girl think we are together or something. Why, I can't understand."

Lucy tried not to laugh as she understood exactly why they thought so, but abstained from saying anything on the matter. "How did you manage to make Lauxs act so perfectly?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I didn't." Something flitted through his mind, because he smirked at her. "You should ask him what changed." And then he dragged her over to where the Thunder Legion was fawning over Lauxs. "LAXUS!"

The man in question turned, and frowned when he saw Lucy and Erik. "What do you want, Snake Man?" Erik shoved Lucy into Laxus. "You both need to talk. ASAP." And he left.

"I am sorry Laxus. I don't kn-" Lucy started apologising, but stopped mid way when she saw his expression. He was serious; intense, a look she had never seen on him till now.

"Catch a movie with me. Tomorrow." Her eyes fluttered in surprise, and her gaze rested on the lightning bolt in his hand.

Zeus, God of Lightning.

Laxus Dreyar, the Lightning on the field.

Lightning.

Suddenly, the symbol she had passed of as a squiggle behind the anonymous letter had a name.

"You're the person who sent me that letter." The words left her mouth before she could over think them. His face flushed. "W-What letter? Tch, woman you've gone off the deep end."

She giggled as he turned his face, obviously trying to hide his blush. "Yes, I would like to come with you for a movie. Just, nothing with a lot of gore."

His lips broke into the first true grin she had seen on his face. She could feel the heat rise to her face.

He looks amazing when he smiles.

"Great, meet you at eleven tomorrow. Don't be late Princess."

"I won't be, Daddy."

"Hey, why did Laxus do that with Lucy?" Levy was musing over the entire situation with Erza and Mira. Just then Natsu walked in and heard the bluenette. "That's easy. He wanted Lucy to focus all her attention on him." At that Mira squealed.

"Ah! Imagine the adorable babies they would make!"

Fin.

I want to thank all of you guys who followed, favourited and reviewed on this story. You guys motivated me to keep writing, even when I was stuck.

Without you guys, LaLu Week would not have been the amazing experience that it was for me.

Thank you for reading.

Untill next time.

Live long and prosper.

Fizz out.