Celestial Heart (A Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Chapter 10: I am Officially a Fangirl (Kill Me)

"Sure thing!"

Mira didn't even ask why the only thing I wanted was a spoon, even though that had to be the most random request she'd gotten that day. Then again, this was Fairy Tail we're talking about...

Spoon in hand now, I headed back to my table to find Gray was back, but unfocused. He and Natsu had gotten into some kind of fight and were trying to knock each other unconscious. I sighed as I dropped back into my chair, feet kicked up on the scarred wooden table, arms folded lazily under my chest.

Lucy was watching the fight, too, though she was a hell of a lot less enthusiastic about it than I was. No one else was really paying attention, as this happened all the time. So it was just me, laughing every time one of them got nailed in the stomach, and Luce, shouting at them to stop being idiots.

But I got bored after a while. I mean, they were idiots, and the insults they were hurling were pretty lame about five minutes into the brawl. At one point, Gray called Natsu a "flaming piece of shit", which gave me a totally nasty mental image. I wrinkled my nose, shoving the thought to the back of my mind. I didn't even want to think about how awful that shit would smell.

Anyway, because of my sudden lack of interest, I lifted my hand and said, "Oi! Gray, outta the way!" before dropping an IRON down on the unsuspecting mages. Gray, heeding my call, rolled out of the way at the last second, leaving Natsu to take the brunt of the blow.

I accidentally cracked the guild's flooring. Oops.

Master wouldn't be pleased, but oh well, I'd deal with that later. Right then, I had a seriously ticked off flame mage to worry about.

"Winter!" he roared as he, once again, sent globs of molten iron flying in all directions. By now we had everyone's attentions. I smirked. I didn't love having an audience, but... I could work with this.

"Yeah? What's up?" I asked innocently.

"Why'd you warn Ice Princess and not me?!" he demanded, stalking towards me, fists clenched tightly at his sides. With the liquid iron running down his tan skin like sweat, he looked a little intimidating. But it was still Natsu, so there was no way I was backing down from this challenge.

"His actually rank is Ice Prince," I corrected as I set one foot against the edge of the table in preparation. Just as I'd expected, Natsu, eyes flaming, growled out a warning threat, then launched himself at me. Instinct kicked in and I shoved against the table, knocking my chair back as I threw out my arm behind me. My hand pressed to the floor and I flipped myself over and out of the way just as Natsu crashed into my table, shattering the poor thing into tiny little pieces.

Natsu recovered quickly and lunged for me. I definitely would have dodged it... had I not slipped on the shattered remains of my frozen juice and lost my balance.

"Dammit Gray!" I hissed as Natsu caught me by the collar and yanked me upright, his flaming fist cocked back. I think he'd found a new sparring partner in me, and the fact that I'd pissed him off by choosing Gray wasn't helping the situation. Could you blame me, though? I just happened to bond with Gray, cause Lucy already had Natsu.

She sorta needed him, whether she realized it or not.

"Drop her, Flame Brain!" I heard Gray shout. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him rising to his feet, sparkling ice crystals dancing around his clenched fists. Ugh. I didn't want to make the conflict worse. I could imagine Lucy scolding me for this. It was your fault, Winter! she'd say. It's because you don't when to quit something!

Huh. Loke had said something similar, hadn't he? Well, I did admit to being a stubborn bitch. No use going back on my word now.

"Nah, I'm good!" I called to Gray, slowly letting a grin flicker across my lips. Natsu's anger fizzled as he saw it, and a similar adrenaline-filled smile tugged at his lips. "Ready for a rematch, Pinky?"