The Art of Trouble

Chapter 9: Lucy's Frustration, Loke's Suspicions

Lucy was now in a fuss, she had been pacing back and forth. She was guilty, of course. She dragged Juvia into this, which had eventually hurt the water mage.

Loke had been watching his master while she was walking from end to end on the halls of the boat. He waited for her next move.

"Beautiful, I told you, Juvia is now okay. You got to believe in me. There's a let-..."
The celestial spirit was then interrupted by someone incoming.

"Is there's something wrong here? Oh, Loke, you're here. "
Gray suddenly approached the two, and he immediately saw Lucy's frantic face."

"Gray, Loke is here to tell me about Juvia." Lucy responded, anxiety never left her once restless face. Meanwhile, Gray became worried, "What could've happened to her?" He thought.

Although, Juvia had been annoying at times, he still cares for the woman.

"For the nth time, I've already told you, she's now alright." Loke spoke in an instant. He didn't wish for Gray to get worried, as well.
"In fact, she wanted me to hand you this." Loke retrieved a small piece of paper from his suit. The paper had "Lucy" written on it.

"Juvia sent you this letter."

Despite her frustration, Lucy carefully took the letter from Loke's hand before she read it. She was silent while reading the letter.

"She lost her way when she tried to follow me, I'm so sorry Gray."
When Lucy uttered her apology, tears had threatened to come out from her eyes. She was truly, frustratingly guilty of what happened to her. Besides that, what worse could've happened not just to Juvia, but to the rest of the guild? Gray, on the other hand, didn't even think of blaming Lucy. It was, after all, a mutual agreement of both mages, and it was Juvia's own will to follow Lucy.

"Can I read it?" Gray asked, he was referring to the letter Juvia wrote to her. Then, with a nod, she stretched her hand out so that he could reach it.

Gray intently read the letter before he said something.
"She was attacked by some flesh-eating bacteria, is that even possible?" He creased his brows, he couldn't understand why such small creatures could hurt an individual big time. He had now slouched on one of the walls while waiting for his question to be answered.

"Apparently, she was infected by it. It didn't literally attacked her, but, these germs had been transmitted to her skin the moment she stumbled upon something that's contaminated." Lucy explained, thankful that she had encountered such facts when she read about biology. With that, she was a little amused with her friend's naivety on these things. Surely, Gray isn't dumb, but he totally lacked reading, just like their other friend- the fire breathing wizard. This made Lucy smile thoughtfully, and at the same time made her missed her best buddy.

"Oh, Natsu... Where are you?"

Lucy had been in deep thought while Gray and Loke were talking, trying to catch things up. These two had been really closed friends, especially when Loke had not yet revealed his true identity of being a celestial spirit. They were quite having fun, and for once, Lucy noticed that it was the first time she had seen Gray in a lighter mood ever since he met him at the forest. Although, at times he would joke around, yet, she felt like Gray had just been forcing those jokes out of him, for the sake of loosening off some tension. She felt relieved when she saw him that way. This mission, which she knew nothing about, except the danger that could emanate from it and the fact that the whole guild may be entirely at risk by it, she wanted to know, but, Gray wasn't ready to tell her yet. Even though she tried, she can hardly understand Gray's reason for his lack of trust in her.
It had been weeks since he allowed her to stay with him, why not tell her now? Especially that, they would soon become a married coup-... Lucy was a bit shocked by her own thoughts. She couldn't fathom how she should feel about marrying Gray. It was a mixture of embarrassment and anxiety. It's not because she doesn't like him, in fact she find the person appealing. But, she's not sure whether it would be alright to marry someone with specific reasons other than love. Love, Lucy's heartbeat had suddenly became frantic, it beat uncontrollably. She didn't know how it happened but at first, it was only a gradual rhythm, then, like a horse, it galloped from slow to fast pace. She unconsciously looked at Gray, making the latter stop from his chat and looked back at her. This didn't help Lucy's effort to control her inner struggle. She could feel her cheeks heat up the moment he looked at her. What is wrong with me? She mentally scratch the back of her head. Then, all of a sudden, something had ticked off the celestial mage: this perilous mission plus, her ignorance about it, Juvia's condition, Natsu's whereabouts, and her questionable feelings, all these frenzied thoughts had entirely brought the blonde's frustration, and it was truly obvious by how her shoulders sagged, along with her head being held up the ceiling. For awhile, she closed her eyes and scrunched her nose. Then, she excused herself from the two guys before going back inside the cabin.
The lady's actions brought so much concern by the ice mage.

"Buddy, I think we'll have to talk some other time. I need to be there for her."

The few last words mentioned by Gray had rung in Loke's ears- "I need to be there for her."
Is it possible? Whatever is possible, it surely meant as it is, Gray truly cares for his master. Although, it wasn't yet confirmed, but he suspected two things. It was either Gray had so much sympathy for Lucy, or he had begun to grow some alienable feelings towards the blonde mage. Somewhere deep in the lion's heart, he hoped it would be the former because, even now, he had started to become
...jealous.