First or Last Kiss?

~15~

"I'm dating Sting."
Those words rang through Gray's mind as soon as the petite blonde had spoken them. He kicked a rock on the side of the road in anger and replayed the memory over and over again. Three simple words were all it took for the Ice Mage's rage to flare up in much hotter flames than Natsu's could ever reach. Gray sighed, annoyed at himself for letting it get to him. It was him, after all, that had come to Lucy's apartment. She wasn't to be blamed for his own feelings and he knew that, but he couldn't help himself from getting angry at the world. Why did it have to be Sting of all people...

"Gray-sama..." a voice cut through his train of thoughts and annoyance filled his mind once more.
"What?!" Gray spat, turning around to face the Elemental. (a/n: not sure if that's what she's called ahhh sorry!)
"U-Uh... Juvia knows how you feel and wishes you the best of luck with gathering the pieces of your heart back," Juvia spoke softly and it surprised Gray how much distance there was between them. Hadn't the Water Mage been all over him?
"Ah, thanks?" Gray shook his head at Juvia's strange words and offered a small smile towards the blue-haired woman. She didn't squeal like he thought she would. Neither did she drool all over him like before. What was going on?
"Juvia? Are... you feeling alright?" he asked, taking a step closer. Juvia only smiled and nodded, tightly grasping the hem of her coat.
"O-Of course," she whispered and looked up at Gray, her eyes suddenly very empty.
"Juvia's alright," she added and turned around to leave. Gray was left shocked as the rain came pouring down. He didn't know why, but he knew something was off and he had to find out what, before it was too late.

*POV change*

"So what you're saying is that... this person called Ultear has been trying to contact me through my dreams?" Lucy asked incredulous.

After Gray had left, Lucy's world was turned upside down. First came the blonde's tears and the misunderstanding from Yukino who still tried to soothe the Celestial Mage despite not knowing what was going on. Second came Sting, running into the hotel room demanding what the hell was going on?! But before Lucy could give any plausible answers, Wendy came flying in, carried by her Exceed and with the most world crushing news ever.
So naturally, the four gathered around and let the blue-haired girl do her thing and explain the whole ordeal.

That's how they ended up like this. Everything was a chaos and even the little girl with the answers didn't know what to do.

"Wait, so what does that mean?" Sting spoke up, carefully to keep his arm around Lucy tight and secure.
"It means that whatever Ultear-san is trying to say, it's important and Lucy clearly plays a big role in it all." Wendy sighed and fidgeted with her hands.
"But I don't get how Ultear could contact me from the future?" Lucy muttered under her breath, making Sting looked down at the shivering girl in his arms.
"It probably has something to do with her Arc of Time magic, Lucy, don't worry about it too much." Sting rubbed her back and looked up at Wendy when she began speaking again.
"Porlyusica says that could be right, but she doesn't know how Ultear-san was able to manipulate her powers in such a way that her Flash Forward could be used to this extent." The small girl looked deep in thought for a couple seconds.
"Sting, " she suddenly said, looking up, "does Ultear-san has some kind of projection magic? Or copying magic?" Sting looked confused for a moment before his eyes lit up with recognization.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, "She has this Thought Projection magic that allows her to copy her own form and let her projection interact with people and stuff."
Wendy's brows scrunched up. "Hmm.. " she mused, "Ultear-san has been improving her own magic spells a lot, maybe that's why she was able to make a projection of someone other than herself."
Lucy looked up and tilted her head. "You mean me?" she looked around the room.
"But.. I—you ... how? I mean that would mean that she projected in my dreams, right?" Lucy asked no one in particular.
"Not necessarily, no. It could mean that you were awake but just not aware of it," Wendy said.
Suddenly Sting grabbed Lucy's hands and showed Wendy the cuts that decorated her palms. Wendy gasped and snatched Lucy's hands out of Sting's own.
"Oh my god! Lucy-san what happened!" Wendy cried out worriedly, getting ready to perform a healing spell.
"I-It's from this morning, it happened in the dream... didn't I tell you?" Lucy answered carefully and winced when Wendy continued to heal her cuts.
"No you didn't, but it all fits together now, don't you think?" Wendy said and sighed once Lucy's hands were back to normal.
"Huh, what do you me—" Lucy stopped midsentence when realization hit her.

The future-Lucy in her dreams was Ultear.

~*~*~*~*~

Sorry that I've been away for so long, I'm trying my best to write regularly and keep up with updates and stuff but school is a real pain in the ass (like always).

Stay safe! 💜