Pretty Ore

A/N:Everyone who thought perversely at the end of chapter 11 are VERY wrong! Nothing happened, they were just sleeping next to each other innocently. This is the last chapter, with flashbacks thrown in here about them doing couple stuff and a satisfying end (I hope). So, thanks to everyone who reviewed this story!

Also, a warning for this chapter, it might not be suitable for younger viewers. I changed the rating to M, because it finally has the sexual themes in here.

Chapter 12 – Starry Night

--

Time had passed ever since that day Claire slept in his bed at the Inn. It was already winter, and Kai had long left along with the summer of Mineral Town. Cliff had actually gotten a job at the Winery, and with a lot of pushing from Claire's side, he had the guts to ask Ann out on a lunch date.

And Gray? Gray was the happiest person on earth ever since he became Claire's boyfriend. Last month, they decided it would be best for Gray to move in with Claire on her farm. Paying for the Inn was getting too expensive, and he loved being able to sleep with Claire in their own bed. Waking up next to her was one of life's perks, as was falling asleep right next to her. Every time he would wake up in the morning, he would smell roses and lilies, from the shampoo that Claire used on her hair. They would eat breakfast together, got dressed together, and even take showers together.

Yes, they had seen each other naked over hundreds of times now. It took a while though, to finally be able to show each other for what they truly are. It's also because of a hilarious event, when Gray accidentally walked in on Claire while she was showering; he was merely looking for his jacket which he left in the bathroom. Of course they had both been embarrassed as hell, but they got over it. Especially since Claire decided it was time they stopped being childish and got over it. Gray mused on his memories.

--

"Okay Gray, that's enough. I had enough of us being embarrassed because you saw me naked," said Claire in her high-pitched voice as she stood next to him. Gray's mouth fell open, his cereal falling out and landing on Claire's table. It was morning, and apparently Claire had this brilliant idea to share during breakfast.

"W-what?" Stammered Gray, closing his mouth and blushed at Claire. What was she going on about?

"The faster we get over this, the better! Right?" She asked with a smile. Gray said nothing, but eyed her suspiciously.

"It's only fair if I see you naked, right?" She said, but this time didn't wait for an answer, but started kissing him on the lips – something they had done a million times, but he never grew tired of. Gray forgot her words and kissed back, loving her lips on his, until he felt that her hands had sneaked around his neck to tear off his tie.

Gray gasped as he saw Claire straddling his waist; taking off his clothing.

"What are you doing!?" Hissed Gray as he pushed Claire off.

"Stripping you, duh!" She said and got closer to him again and managed to unbutton his shirt. Gray flinched away from her. "Stop that!" He said nervously, holding his shirt closed and ran around the table to avoid Claire.

"Don't be such a baby, you saw me naked. Now I get to see you naked – you shouldn't be ashamed of it," said Claire as a matter of fact.

Gray admitted that once Claire became his girlfriend, that the awkward situations were still very much present, and Claire just loved teasing him about everything that made him embarrassed. You should have seen her the first time she woke up next to him, and she noticed that he had a morning wood. All jokes aside, Claire had her fun, while Gray couldn't look her in the eye for over a week.

"I'm not going to strip in front of you," said Gray, circling around the table as he saw Claire reaching for him, running after him.

"But you're my boyfriend!" She whined, chasing after him. They both ran in circles around the dining table, each being childish. The blonde girl then climbed on the table and jumped on top of Gray, who's legs couldn't take the sudden impact and he tumbled down along with Claire to the wooden floor.

She yelled out a victoriously 'hah!' and straddled his body to the ground. Then she proceeded to innocently unbutton his shirt. Gray tried to throw her off, but she was pretty locked on his waist. He also tried to slap away her hands, but Claire was smart enough to start tickling him in his sides, so that he was completely at her mercy.

"Claaiiirreee! Stop it!" He whined and tried to squiggle out from underneath her. Claire merely grinned and opened his shirt; showing his bare chest.

"Oh look at that, no chest hair. You're such a cute wittle boy," cooed Claire as she pinched his cheek. Gray blushed furiously and finally managed to throw Claire off on the ground.

"This is sexual harassment!" He yelled at her, running away to the living room. Claire ran after him.

"No it's not!" Lied Claire and jumped on him again, but Gray evaded it skillfully this time. "I'll show you my body too then!" She said, quite confident of her case. Gray blinked at her, standing behind the couch and watching Claire stand in between her kitchen and the living room. She took off her blue overalls; revealing her checkered red and white shirt, and her black hot pants.

Oh Goddess, what is she going to do now.

She slowly took off her shirt, revealing a light blue bra that matched her eyes. Claire threw her shirt on the ground, and started advancing closer to Gray, who was staring at her dumbfounded. Gray suddenly began to feel a lot hotter than before, and it was winter for Goddess's sake!

"Claire .. what are you doing," he said softly, suddenly the power of his voice started to 'poof' away once Claire was standing in front of him with all her half-naked glory. She reached out her hands, towards his pants, and started unbuttoning them. This time, Gray didn't move, but that might also be because he was ogling Claire's body.

Because she was so small and skinny, her breasts were kind of small too. That didn't take away her beautifulness of them though. Claire was pretty, and every day he was reminded that she could look stunning even in her work clothes covered in mud. Yet now, she was standing half naked, showing off even more of her body and dear Goddess, Gray was getting warm. He heard a zip and he looked down. In a swift moment Claire had managed to pull down his pants, so that they were covered over his shoes. He stood there, looking dumb and stupid. Gray's flower-patterned boxers were showing, and Claire had to stifle her giggle when she saw them.

No, wait, she was giggling because of something else.

"Am I still sexually harassing you, when you're clearly enjoying this?" Asked Claire and pointed at his boxers.

Of course, his hard boner was sticking out, and Gray blushed like he never had before. He quickly turned around and pulled up his pants – but Claire literally threw herself at him, dragging his pants down again, and he toppled over towards the ground. He laid there on the floor again, with his face down. His penis was in a very uncomfortable position. Slowly Gray could feel his shoes being taken off, and his pants slid off of his legs. He was now left with his socks, his boxers, half his dignity and a boner that was being squashed by his own body weight..

"Come on Gray, we have to get over this," she said and turned him over so that he was facing her. "Look, I'll strip together with you," Claire said and unhooked her bra.

If life was an anime, Gray would have been squirting out blood like the violent bloody scenes in the movie Kill Bill.

--

Needless to say, Claire eventually had gotten them naked together. It had been one awkward moment that was burned into his memories, but later on, he could look back at it and grin at himself for being so shy. Yes, they both had been very shy, up until the moment that Claire got sick of it, and decided to just show it all, so that there was nothing else to be shy of anymore. The method, while mentally scarring and highly arousing, was actually successful. He knew that if he ever told Kai, the bandana boy would have never believed Gray.

Then again, there were other things that was still kind of hard to act natural around with Claire. For example, the first time Claire had farted out loud, Gray had laughed his ass off, but Claire was embarrassed as hell. He thought back of that memory and smiled awkwardly.

--

"You know, I think this is the first time you cooked dinner for me." Claire smiled at Gray as she sat down at the table.

Gray proudly gave her a plate, filled with his favourite dish; baked corn. It being his favourite dish and all, Gray didn't find it hard to make, and he was proud of himself. He sat down at the table and grabbed a spoon, scooping up his baked corn and shoving it into his mouth. Claire took it slower – she always ate slow. It was kind of annoying, but then again, it was supposedly healthier or something like that. During their eating, he had heard Claire's stomach growl. She looked kind of pale now that he looked at her skin. She slowly brought the spoon to her mouth, but then put it down in her bowl, as her stomach growled again.

"Are you okay, Claire?" He asked concerned. Was the food bad or something?

Claire nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just think I can't stomach the backed corn – no offense."

Gray blushed. "You don't have to eat it if you don't like it." If Claire didn't like his food, she could just tell him, he's man enough to handle that sort of criticism from his girlfriend. Okay, he lied – he can't handle it. He tried his utter best to prepare this meal for Claire so he could show her he wasn't bad at cooking. That whole point would be totally pointless if she didn't like the food to begin with.

"No, don't worry, I like it, I just don't think my stomach agrees," mumbled Claire and her stomach growled once more.

There was a silence before suddenly, a big loud explosion of wind emerged from Claire's side. Gray's eyes widened and Claire stared at him wide-eyed too. Claire, had farted. Not just a toot, no, it was a fucking atom bomb.

Then Gray started to crack up.

"Oh man, Claire! That was awesome!" He laughed at her, replaying her 'explosive wind' with his mouth, mocking Claire.

"Didn't know you had it in you!" He said and laughed even louder, still mimicking her enormous fart.

Claire blushed hard and stood up from the table, running away towards their bedroom. Gray shut his mouth as his eyes followed Claire's frame disappearing from the kitchen.

"Ah come on Claire, you know I was just messing with you," he called out after her.

It seemed, that Claire had locked herself up in their bedroom, and refused to get out of it. She said she was totally embarrassed by it, but what was worse, that Gray had to actually repeat her fart over and over again. Gray apologized and apologized, but Claire didn't say anything back, and kept to herself for a few hours, until Gray decided he had enough.

"Alright!" He called out.

"Farting is completely normal, and I will show you I don't care that you farted."

Gray went to the kitchen and grabbed a can of beans. It was the perfect farting-starter for him. He quickly found a can-opener and opened the can, spilling the contents on a plate. The blonde boy swallowed them as fast as he could, and then he waited. He waited until he felt the urge to pass gas.

He stood at the bedroom door as he felt a fart coming up.

"Here goes, this is how normal farting is," he said seriously.

A soft, pathetic sound came from his butt. Gray frowned, and he heard Claire laugh at him from inside the bedroom. "That one doesn't count!" He growled. He squeezed his eyes shut and started to forcefully push his farts out.

There they came, one after the other, getting louder and longer and smellier the more he farted.

"See! I don't care you farted!" Said Gray, as he tried to pull off one big one. He pushed and he pushed, until he finally heard his final fart, which was loud and had this goddess-awful smell. It took a while for Gray to realize that the smell didn't came from his fart ..

Claire finally opened the door and smiled at him. "You're so weird Gray, but thank you anyway" she said.

Gray raised an eyebrow, as he stood there, half-way hunched over. His left eye started to twitch.

"Oh Goddess Gray, don't ever do that again, it reeks in here!" Exclaimed Claire as she closed her nose with her fingers.

"Claire," he began very slowly and seriously. Claire looked up, while fanning herself from the nasty stench in the air.

"What?" She asked.

"I think I shit my pants."

--

Yes he would still hear jokes about that even till this very day. Gray just laughed it off and would say that he shit himself on purpose, so that Claire would feel more comfortable around him, and wouldn't think about her own fart anymore. Claire knew the truth though, and luckily she decided to never tell anyone else. He loved her for that.

After that day though, they had become more comfortable with each other than ever. They'd get randomly naked in the house, watch tv on her couch while they were only wearing just a few things. Claire would happily belch and burp, and even fart around him. Gray happily did the same; happy that he didn't have to 'behave' himself around his girlfriend. After all, he was only human with humanly gasses – as was she. The blonde boy was actually very happy with how the events led them to being themselves around each other. No more hiding your farts by secretly fanning yourself under the table, no more burping through your nose, no more 'the dog did it' excuses – just plain, raw people.

It was all happy and joyful then, until Gray realized that one fatal day that it wouldn't all ever be happy and joyful. When you're in a relationship, you stick with your partner through better and through worse. Gray found out exactly what 'worse' meant. It was a Thursday, the day that Gray hiked the mountain peak, and this time, he decided to take Claire with him. He wanted to show her the nice view of Forget-Me-Not Village you could see from the top.

It was one of the scariest days in his life.

--

"Come on Claire, you're so slow," said Gray as he turned around to look at Claire. She was trying to climb up this steep path, which Gray could easily walk over with ease. Claire was a different story though, she had never hiked in her life, and she was clumsily trying to follow Gray. Of course, that made her all the more cute.

"Well, Sor-ry!" Snapped Claire defensively. "I never hiked before in my life," she defended herself. A drop of water landed on her nose. She looked up at the dark clouds.

"Bah, it's starting to rain," she said.

Gray noticed she was starting to get in a bad mood. It was raining a little bit though, and Gray could see dark clouds emerging from the sky. He sighed and shrugged; they could at least finish their hike to get to the top. Gray slid down a little bit down the steep path and reached his hand out for Claire, waiting for her to take hold of it so he could hoist her up. The girl pulled out her arm, to try and grab Gray's hand, but it was out of her reach. By now, it wasn't drizzling anymore, it was raining more and more by the second.

Claire pulled back and stood on her place. "I want to go back home, it's no fun when it's raining."

"Oh come on, let us at least get up on the top, it's not far anymore," said Gray, he didn't want to leave just yet.

Claire sighed, but tried to grab Gray's hand again. She stood on her toes, and leaned one of her hands against the now muddy steep path. Her fingers were touching Gray's finger, and he was just about to grab her when he saw Claire slip because the path had turned into mud.

"Ahh!" She shrieked, and fell on the ground. Unfortunately, she was standing on a very steep path itself, and she tumbled down the mountain. Gray's heart stopped beating as he watched his loved one slid across the mud, going further and further. The rain kept on going, clouding his vision.

"CLAIRE!!" Gray yelled out and jumped right after her. He tried to run, but instead he slipped himself, there was too much mud, and he was now gliding down the mountain. With horror in his eyes, he saw Claire had finally managed to grab onto a bush, and had now stopped on a very steep side of the mountain. The rain crashed around her, and it looked all foggy around her, he didn't know if she was injured or if she was okay.

"CLAIRE! ARE YOU OKAY!?" He yelled down at her, still sliding down the mountain and finally coming to a halt when he reached Claire's shaking body. He stumbled a little over her body, but steadied himself as he sat down and felt for her pulse. Good, her pulse was still going.

He lifted up her face; it was covered in mud. She slowly opened her eyes. "Ughh, dizzy," she mumbled and closed her eyes again.

"Claire, can you hear me?" He asked, this time more urgently. Claire's eyes remained closed, but she slowly nodded her head.

"Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere? Do you remember who I am? What's 4 times 4? What's your birthday?"

"G-gray," said Claire. "I'm o-okay .. I think." She tried to get up, but fell down into Gray's arms when she noticed she was still too shaky to move at all. "Don't move," he ordered her. "I'm taking you to the clinic," he said and hauled her arm over his shoulder and pulled her up.

The trip to the clinic was not a pleasant one. The rain was so thick that Gray could barely see anything anymore, and Claire's body got heavier and heavier with each step he took. She tried to walk with him, to support her own weight, but for some reason she was totally uncoordinated, losing her own footing – something that Gray feared was brain damage. Claire needed to see the Doctor, and he had to get her there as soon as possible. He pulled her waist closer to his, while making sure her arms was securely over his shoulder.

After about maybe half an hour in the pouring ran, and Claire moaning slightly every time he dragged her feet over the pavement; Gray arrived at the clinic.

"TRENT! ELLI!!" Gray yelled out and pulled Claire over the steps. The door swung open, showing a confused man wearing a Doctor's coat.

"What happened!?" Asked the black-haired man and he took Claire off his arms. "Elli, come in here now, we've got someone who's hurt."

"We were climbing the mountain peak, she slipped and fell down a long way," said Gray fast as he looked at Claire being put away in the hospital bed. He could hear Claire mumbling some words that didn't make sense, and it worried Gray like nothing else had ever worried him before.

The Doctor pushed Gray away from the room. "You wait there, we'll work on her," he said urgently, and closed the door behind him.

Gray paced up and down the door, sometimes pressing his ear against it to see if he could hear anything from the room. It was futile though, Gray couldn't hear a thing and he was at the Doctor's mercy. It scared him, it scared him a lot. He was so worried Claire was going to have some brain damage or something, or worse; ever lasting damage! It was all his fault – he decided they should go up on the mountain peak. Then he continued to push Claire up the mountain when she just wanted to go home, but he didn't care, even when it started raining he didn't care.

Angrily, he hit his head against the hard, concrete wall. "Stupid, Gray. You're so stupid," he said to himself in anger.

After an hour or so, the door finally opened, revealing the nurse; Elli.

"You may come in now, but be careful. Claire needs rest, she has a slight concussion and needs not do any work for one whole week, otherwise it might be permanent," she explained Gray, but Gray was only half listening, as he looked at Claire laying on the bed. She was unconscious, her head laying to the side, and covered in a bandage wrapped around her head. Her blonde hair was wet and sprawled out on the pillow. She looked so .. lifeless.

"I'll let her stay in here for the night, she can go home tomorrow. I can not stress the fact enough that she needs to rest. No physical work from her – can you take care of her?" Asked Doctor Trent seriously.

Gray swallowed and nodded his head. Yes, he'll take care of Claire, forever. He stood next to Claire and bent down, holding her hand and kissing it. "I'll see you tomorrow Claire," he whispered to her.

--

It had been the most scariest day in his life, and Gray was glad that Claire seemed to be her old self again after a few days of resting. Of course Gray had to help her out with all of her farm work, and sometimes he could see her sneak out to try and water her crops – but Gray had taken away her watering can and put it somewhere where she couldn't find it. She said she didn't like it when she was so helpless and needed to get help with everything she did.

From taking care of her farm work, to having showers. Yes, Gray had to help her with her showers, something which he didn't mind anyway. He made sure that Claire laid in bed most of the day, and while she slept late at night, Gray would watch over her, to make sure everything was alright.

Gray turned around in his bed to see the same old hair he had seen ever since that time they had lived together. He still liked seeing it though. He put his arm over her waist and pulled her closer to him. He loved having her here, together with him, sharing her life with him. Gray closed his eyes as he got closer to her hair. He heard Claire stir a little and she opened her eyes.

"Gray," she mumbled softly. "Hm?" He responded, kissing her neck.

"You're poking me again.." Said Claire with a yawn. Gray grinned.

"I can't help it, it's morning, and I woke up next to a beautiful girl," he said and kissed her neck some more. "Liar," she snorted. "You always wake up with a boner."

Gray chuckled. "Doesn't mean I didn't wake up next to a beautiful girl." They both held their mouths and laid together in bed, peaceful and content with the way they were right now.

"I love you," murmured Gray against her neck. "I love you too," whispered Claire back as she drifted off into sleep again. Gray smiled at the memory he had when he had first confessed that he loved Claire.

--

It was Gray's birthday, the 6th of Winter. He was more excited than ever, all because he knew that Claire had said she has the best present ever. She had been planning it for a week already, and Gray just couldn't help but squeal in delight when he woke up on the morning of his birthday.

He shook Claire awake, who merely mumbled something like '5 more minutes'.

"It's my birthday!" Said Gray happily, and kissed Claire's lips.

Claire pushed him off of her. "Oh Goddess, morning breath, go brush your teeth," said Claire as she glared at her boyfriend. Gray snorted back at her. "You go brush your teeth, they're just as bad as mine."

"Just give me a sec while I try and fall asleep again," she whispered, putting her head back down on her pillow.

Gray pouted at her. "It's my birthdaayyy," he whined and kept shaking her body. She groaned out loud and rolled out of her bed ungracefully.

She stood up and straightened herself out while she stared at Gray, he seemed so blurry to her ..

"Happy Birthday, Gray," she said to him and disappeared in the bathroom to pee, and brush her teeth.

Gray pushed himself against the bathroom door, holding the doorknob and trying to turn it around. "I want my present!" Said Gray impatiently. There was no response from Claire, so Gray decided to be annoying. He put his nails on top of the wooden door and trailed them down, making a screeching sound that most people hated – including Claire.

"Gray, stop that!" She yelled at him from out the bathroom.

"Preseenntt!" Wailed Gray out loud, he wanted his present – now!

He heard Claire groan out of frustration at the impatient little puppy. "Just go sit on your bed, I'll give it to you in a second."

Gray did what he was told and sat on his bed. He wrapped himself in his blanket because he got kind of cold when he was just wearing his boxers. Claire always wore her long night gowns though, never just sleeping in her panties or something. Then again, if she did, Gray would probably never sleep again, and instead, would be staring at her until she woke up.

The doorknob turned and Claire walked out, still in her nightgown.

"Where's my present?" He asked, looking behind her back, but not finding anything that resembled a present. Claire sighed and went back into the bathroom to take out the old radio she still used. She walked over towards the bedroom and closed the door, then placed down the radio on the ground and pressed play. Music started playing from the speakers, it was a song that Gray actually recognized.

I like big butts and I can not lie, you other brothers can't deny.

Claire started to dance to the song, in front of Gray. Gray roared out of laughter when he saw Claire shake her butt towards him. He stopped laughing when he saw that Claire was unbuttoning her nightgown. His mouth dropped open when the blonde girl shook her nightgown off of her body, as it gracefully fell to the ground. She was left in just her light-blue bra and her light-blue thong. Claire danced, wiggling her waist and shaking her butt again. Gray, was highly amused, and on the other hand, was highly aroused too. Claire made a whole turn to clap her hands and shake her booty again. Gray laughed at her.

"Dear goddess, I love you Claire." He had claimed suddenly, still happily watching Claire dancing half-naked to the song; Baby Got Back.

Claire stopped dancing and stared at Gray. His eyes widened at his own claims, but he realized that he might as well say it now. Claire slowly made her way over to the bed and sat down next to Gray.

"You love me?" She asked quietly. Gray blushed, and nodded. Claire smiled happily. "Good, because I love you too," she said before returning to her booty-dance again.

--

Gray quietly chuckled in himself as he felt Claire softly breathing against his body.

Love.

He loved Claire. He was in love with her. He loved everything about her, from her imperfections to her personality to the way she could gracefully turn any situation in an utter chaos. Claire was so right for him, and he loved every bit of her.

Of course, he had loved her ever since he could remember. The day when Kai said Claire might have a crush on him, he was overwhelmed by this feelings he couldn't quite explain. Now, after a while, Gray realized he had been in love with Claire all this time. That's why it didn't quite fit the description of having a simple crush on Claire, or just simply being her best friend. It was love, and he was too stupid to realize it. In a spontaneous act of happiness, had he finally called out that he loved her.

Loving her, he did.

He didn't ask to be loved in return, but it made him all the more happy when he heard Claire say those words back. They were together, and they were in love. Gray couldn't wish for something more fulfilling than that. From the moment that they got together, Gray's life had turned unexpectedly in every way. Those turns were good turns though, his life changed for the better. No longer was he grouchy mister Gray, now he was happy mister Gray who loved spending time with his girlfriend, and who loved working on his forging skills.

Being with Claire made him better as a person. He now could understand why his grandfather kept yelling at him for doing something wrong. He could finally open up to other people, and in the meantime he had become better friends with Cliff and Ann. The people skills that he was so lacking when he met Claire had now turned into actual social skills. Gray did now find it enjoyable to talk to other people, and he could make friends easier.

And it was all because of Claire.

Claire, who got underneath his skin from the day he met her. Claire, who changed the way he thought, changed the way he felt, changed the way he looked at life. She was the epiphany of his life, the bright sunshine in his cloudy world. It was all he needed, to stay with Claire. To enjoy being with her for the rest of his life. Gray never wanted to part from Claire, ever. She felt like his other half, and without her, his happy world would crumble down into nothingness. She was the only person who could truly make him happy, and he was the only person who could truly make her happy too (albeit, that were her own words).

Gray lifted himself up and leaned against the wall; staring at his beautiful girlfriend who was now drooling all over her own pillow. He had thought about this for a long time, and finally found the right time to do it. Gray had been wanting to ask Claire to marry him, because it was the only logical step to him, he couldn't bare the thought of her ever leaving him. He wanted her to stay his, forever. The only question was when and where.

Ann had offered him advice on how to propose. She had said that he should buy a blue feather from the market, and show it to Claire. Unfortunately, Claire had no clue what a Blue Feather represents, so that was out of the question. Ann then suggested that he should just propose like those guys did it in the movies.

"You know, you buy a ring, get on one knee, and ask 'will you marry me?' and the like." Had Ann said.

Gray wasn't so sure about doing that, as he didn't know which knee to kneel down on, and what kind of ring he needed to buy. He was completely, and utterly hopeless – until one day he thought of an idea. A brilliant idea, he might add. Gray would forge his own engagement ring for Claire, as that would display more love than just buying one that was pre-made. For days on end, Gray spent his time at the blacksmith making his own ring. His grandfather allowed him to do as he wished, when Gray had told him about his plans to marry the blonde haired farmer.

When Gray was finally finished with his perfect ring, he had to find the right time to ask her.

It's not that Gray thought Claire wasn't ready to be asked this sort of question, is was more about the fact that Gray wanted to make Claire feel special; because she was special to him. If he was going to ask her to marry him, he damn well would make sure she would remember that day forever.

A few days passed as Gray tried to pick out the perfect date to ask Claire to marry him, and on that one special day, he realized it was the perfect date.

The Starry Night festival.

Dubbed by all townsfolk as the most romantic festival of the year, Gray couldn't help but grin out of sheer arrogance at his own genius plans. He was going to propose to Claire on the Starry Night festival.

Gray shook Claire awake. "Hey, Claire, wake up," he said and shook her some more. Claire groaned and turned around. "But I was sleeping," she mumbled.

"Do you want to go to the Starry Night festival with me?" He asked.

"Noooo," said Claire sarcastically. "I think I'll go with Cliff or something – of course I'll go with you Gray."

Gray ruffled her hair with his hand and smiled at her. "You better go with me," he threatened sarcastically. The blonde girl slapped his hand away and rolled out off her bed. She scratched her ass, which to Gray wiggled his eyebrows at, and walked towards the kitchen.

"Want some cereal? Or do you feel like a sandwich?" Called out Claire from the kitchen. Gray quickly grabbed his shirt from off the ground and pulled it on. He then swung himself off the bed and skidded towards the kitchen where Claire was taking out breakfast stuff from the refrigerator.

"I feel like, kissing you," said Gray with a smile as he pulled Claire in an embrace and kissed her lips. She humbly kissed him back and then pulled away, saying something about morning breath.

Together, they ate breakfast in silence. When they were done, they got dressed, and got to work. Gray told Claire he would meet her at the beach at 6 PM, which was a rather strange time, but Claire agreed nonetheless. She then disappeared to tend to her livestock, while Gray went to the blacksmith; to pick up his ring.

He entered the familiar blacksmith and greeted his just-awake-grandfather.

"Mornin'," he said and tipped his cap towards his gramps. He went over to his usual table he worked at and pulled out a drawer, where his ring would be. When he opened it up though, there was no ring inside, only a hammer and some other tools.

"So, so, you've been working on this.. ring?" Said Saibara while he dragged his words to get Gray's attention. The blonde turned around and swallowed hard; his gramps was holding the engagement ring he made for Claire.

"Yes, can I have it back?" Said Gray in a low voice, as if he was making sure he wouldn't jump on his gramps to grab the ring out of his dirty clutches.

"Where'd you get this ore?" The old man asked, pointing at the blue stone that was attached to the silver ring. It was the ore he had found a few months ago, it was the day he and Claire became boyfriend and girlfriend. The blue ore still hadn't lost its light, as it was still omitting that same sparkle of light from the core.

"I got it in the mine, now can I have it back?" Said Gray more urgently, he didn't want his gramps to fuck up what he had been working on for weeks.

"It's a well-crafted ring, Gray. Good luck on your proposal," said Saibara and flicked the ring at Gray, who hastily caught it. Gray nodded at his grandfather and did his work for the rest of the day.

It was just so exciting, and he couldn't wait that long to propose to Claire. Gray smiled as he admired the 'well-crafted' ring. It was thin and small, fitting Claire's finger perfectly (he hoped). The pretty ore was embedded in the center, glowing this natural blue light. He could see Claire's eyes staring back at him and he smiled again. He pocketed the ring and returned to his work. After he was done, Gray returned to his old home; the inn. Where he spent the rest of his hours talking to Cliff and Ann, who were talking about their date going to the Starry Night festival. Of course, it made Gray all the more pumped up for his own plans.

"You're going to ask her tonight, right?" Said Ann as she beamed at Gray.

Gray shyly smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, just don't tell her," he said.

Cliff looked uneasy to the side and shuffled in his place. Ann glared at Cliff, and Gray wondered what was going on.

"What's going on?" He asked, as he eyed Ann and Cliff.

"Nothing," said Ann quickly. "He's been acting weird ever since I asked him out for the Starry Night festival."

Cliff blushed and hid his face. "Am not!" He replied in a soft whimper. Gray snorted at Cliff's inaudible voice, hoping that his friend would one day find the comfortableness with Ann as he shared with Claire. Actually, Cliff could learn a lot from Claire. If you'd put them together in the same room for a day, you could bet on it that Cliff would never be the same person again – a person who wasn't so shy anymore.

Then again, he would never do that to poor Cliff, and he was way too jealous to ever let Claire stay with any guy in a room for the whole day, unless it was him of course.

"Well, it's getting late, I'll leave you two alone .. to your date," said Gray with a smirk. Cliff blushed again, and looked away from Ann and Gray, whilst Ann was only smiling at the blushing Cliff.

"Good luck, I hope she says yes!" Said Ann with a hidden snort. Gray thought nothing of it and left the inn. When Gray left, Ann smacked Cliff on the head. "You are so sucky at lying!" She said, obviously offended by something. Cliff mumbled a tiny sorry before he returned to blushing again.

Gray arrived at the beach, a little too early, only around 5 PM. He was going to spend the night with Claire, at the beach, gazing at the stars. Then when they were silent, and holding on to each other, Gray would get on one knee – wait he can't do that if they were holding on each other while sitting on the ground. All right, let's rephrase that; they would be standing together gazing at the stars, and he would get on one knee – but how can Claire see him bending down when she's staring at the stars?

The blonde sighed as he sat down at the pier, dangling his feet above the water. He took off his cap and placed it beside him; he knew Claire liked seeing his whole face. Gray waited, and waited until it was 6 PM, for his future fiancé to show up. It was cold, very cold actually, and Gray shuddered in the cold night. At least he had a jacket on, but that wasn't really helping him when he was sitting in cold weather for over an hour. How he longed to go back to his house where he could start a fire in the fireplace, and sit there staring at the crackling flames, along with Claire, sitting under one blanket with her. He made a mental note that he should do that, when he asked Claire to marry him of course.

There were some shuffling steps in the sand, not far ahead. Gray turned his head around as he got up from the pier and looked at Claire entering the beach. She was fully clothed in her winter coat, with scarf and mittens to match. Gray silently cursed in his head; if she's wearing mittens then he can't slip the ring on her finger! Claire came closer, and he could see that her cheeks were tinged with red; probably from the cold.

"Hi," she said weakly as she finally caught up to him. They were both standing on the pier, staring at each other. Gray grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him. She smiled and leaned on her toes to reach Gray's face as she quickly kissed him on the lips. That kiss made him feel all warm inside again, even if her lips were as cold as his at the moment.

"Glad you could come," said Gray with a smile as he beckoned her to sit down at the pier.

"So tell me, why are we outside here in this freezing weather?" Asked Claire as she sat down and hugged her coat for warmth.

Gray raised his eyebrows; not really knowing why either. "I don't know – to stare at the stars?" He said and pointed towards the dark sky. Stars were shining through the clouds, and it actually was a pretty sight to behold. Gray sat down next to Claire, and mentally scolded himself for doing so; now he couldn't go on one knee.

Together they sat on the pier and gazed at the stars, leaning against each other bodies for warmth. Although, Gray wasn't really getting any warmer, as staying in the freezing cold for too long might actually become a problem. He sighed in himself, wondering when would be a good time to ask her. Would it be now? Or should he wait a few more minutes? Nervously, Gray reached into his pocket to touch the ring.

"Gray?" He heard Claire say. Gray whipped his head around, did she see anything!?

"What?" He panted out, feeling like he was just caught in the act.

Claire smiled at him and kissed his freezing cold lips. "I want to thank you for being with me – I love you," she said warmly, giving Gray shivers (or was it because he was cold?).

He smiled weakly. "I love you too." Now was the perfect moment to propose to her. He heard Claire move away from him, so Gray could finally get out his ring from his pocket.

It started to snow.

Claire turned around to look at him. "Look, it's snowing! About time, don't you think?" She asked, sticking out her tongue to catch the snow on her tongue. Gray mumbled out a 'yeah' and placed the ring in his hand, making sure Claire didn't see it.

Claire stood up and leaned a little over the pier, watching the snow fall and disappear in the ocean. Gray could have cried from happiness; now she was standing and he could kneel down! Gray tried to get up, but it seemed as if his butt was frozen on the pier. He gave one giant pull and shot loose from the pier. He sat on his knees as he looked at Claire.

"Gray I want to tell you something," said Claire as she turned around to look at him.

Gray was debating in his head which knee he had to lean on! Was it his right or left knee? Oh Goddess, why didn't he know such a simple thing? He nervously held the ring in his finger and shuddered in Claire's presence. She cocked her head to him, but turned around again. Gray's heart started thumping in his chest – which knee!? Gray moved around and decided to bent down on his left knee, and suddenly, while he was learning on the ground for support, the ring slid out off his hand.

"Fuc-"

"I never thought I would meet someone like you when I came here," said Claire before Gray could even finish his curse word.

He dropped the ring!

He dropped the fucking ring!

Gray hastily looked down at the ground for any sparkle of blue light, but the snow was covering it up too fast for him to see where the ring had fallen. His blue eyes scanned the pier that he was standing on, but he couldn't find the silver ring. Gray panicked and started brushing the snow off the pier with his hands.

"I don't want to be separated from you, Gray," continued Claire, unbeknownst that Gray was frantically searching for a ring behind her back.

Gray wasn't even paying attention to the blonde haired girl. He pushed the snow off again, and finally saw it; a faint shimmer of blue light. His heart sung out of happiness, as he tried to pick up the ring, but it was stuck between the wood of the pier. It had fallen directly in between two pieces of wood, and Gray couldn't keep himself from cursing many words in his mind.

"I really love you Gray. I don't want it any other way."

Gray's fingers tried to squeeze through the wood so he could reach the ring – but his fingers were too thick and he couldn't squirm in between the wood. The ring laid there, not far out of his reach, it was mocking him. Gray growled lowly and tried to pick up the ring with his pinky finger instead. He was freezing cold, and could barely feel his fingers anymore, but he had to get the ring! For Claire!

"That's why .." Said Claire as she slowly turned around, pulling her hands out of her pockets.

Gray's anxiety rose, as he looked at Claire's eyes wondering down to the pier, to see what he was doing. His pinky barely touched the ring, and before he knew it, he had a grip on it.

"Ha!" Cried out Gray as he lifted the ring from the pier and clasped it in his hands. He showed it to Claire, sitting on one knee, in the freezing snow.

Claire was standing in front of him, with her hands pulled out, showing a blue feather in her mittens.

Gray blinked.

Claire blinked.

They both blinked again.

Gray's eyes stared at the blue feather in Claire's hands, while Claire stared at the ring in Gray's hands.

The blonde haired girl threw the feather away, bent down to her knees, and flung her arms around Gray, who happily held her in his arms, while making sure he didn't lose the ring again. He heard her laugh quietly against his back, while he nuzzled his face in her warm hair.

"You asshole," she chuckled. "You ruined my proposal."

Gray snickered, and held Claire closer to his body. "Says the one who ruined my proposal – I even made a nice ring for you!"

Claire pulled away from Gray as she stared in his eyes. She smiled. "Yes, I'll marry you, Gray."

Gray smiled back.

"I'll marry you too."

He took Claire's hand and pulled off her mitten. Her fingers extended while he placed the silver ring on her ring finger. The blonde girl smiled at him and kissed him on his lips. Gray eagerly kissed her back – his fiancé ..

His wife.