Understanding My Heart

Chapter 9

Lucy's POV

Lucy ended up spending the rest of the day hanging out with Juvia. Their conversation at the café had helped the two women realize that they weren't as different as they had originally thought. The topic had changed from men to literature, both mages realizing that they actually had quite a few favorite authors in common.

When they had finished their meal Lucy invited Juvia to come shopping with her, and the water woman agreed much to Lucy's delight. It was so nice to be having a normal conversation with the blue haired woman, infinitely better than having Juvia menacing her for "flirting with her beloved."

Since Lucy had already gotten herself some new clothes she gave Juvia a hand in selecting styles that would suit her. Juvia blushed and readily tried on the clothes that Lucy had picked out, the celestial mage saying that she thought Gray would like those styles.

Lucy was selecting styles that she knew would catch the ice mage's eye. Juvia had an excellent figure, and while the clothes she wore were very flattering, they weren't what she knew Gray liked on a woman. She had spent enough time with Gray on missions to know his type, and she knew that Juvia's current style was a little too conservative. He only saw one of his guildmates when he looked at Juvia, not the lovely woman that she really was.

"Lucy... Are you sure that Gray-sama will like this outfit?" said the water mage, a little uncertainly. Lucy had enthusiastically pushed her into the changing room when she had found this outfit. She had a feeling that it would be perfect for getting the ice mage to see Juvia for the woman that she was.

"I'm positive Juvia! Now let me see!"

Later (still Lucy's POV)

Night was falling when Lucy finally returned home. She was brimming with happiness after the great day she had had. Not long ago she had parted from Juvia, but not before they had decided to take on a small mission together the following day. Juvia needed the reward and Lucy was eager to spend more time with the water mage and further strengthen their friendship so she had offered to help her. The blonde hummed as unlocked her front door and entered, dropping her bag by the door and hanging up her coat. She felt like talking to someone so she selected one of her silver keys and summoned the spirit.

"Open, Gate of the Little Dog! Come Nicola!" she called, and the small form of Plue appeared in front of her. The little creature greeted her enthusiastically, hugging her leg. Lucy laughed and picked up the spirit, cuddling him. He must have sensed that she was in a good mood through her magic. "Hello Plue! You wouldn't believe how great my day was today!"

She set Plue down and began preparing her evening meal, chattering on and on about her day as the spirit followed her around. The little dog-like thing always seemed to enjoy listening to her talk and she was glad for the company.

After finishing her meal Lucy took a long hot bath, still talking away to Plue as he continued to listen. She laughed when the little guy fell into the water, her mind a million miles away from all her worries. Eventually she got out of the bath and put on her pajamas.

The blonde stretched and looked around at her room, her eyes falling on her desk. She had almost forgotten that she had wanted to make some progress on her novel. She bounded over to her desk excitedly and pulled out her writing materials.

She sat there deep in thought as she looked at what she had last written. She was in the middle of writing a romantic scene between the main character and her love interest, and she had been stuck on what to write next for some time now. Her thoughts wandered to one of the fantasies that she had had recently about Natsu and she sighed. She really didn't want to think about her best friend and her unattainable desires for him, but she had to admit that the fantasy that she had in mind would make for some delicious action in her novel.