[GRAYLU] Effet Papillon

3 ~ Back to the Future

Lucy and Gray were walking solemnly, until a frantic Erza ran towards the two- a grimace on her face.

"Gray! Lucy! Where is Natsu?!" She asked, but it sounded more like a command rather than an inquiry. Gray shrugged and that earned him a terrifying glare from the red-haired wizard. The man shivered and cowered away.

"We need to find him! Or else we'll be stuck in the past!" She exclaimed and Lucy and Gray gave one another a sideways glance.

"WHAT?!"

Erza scoffed and bolted into a sprint as she ran towards the one place she knew she'd find him: the lake where Natsu and Gray fought each other. She didn't have any time to waste.

It wasn't too long before the other two caught up to her, with confused and distressed looks on their faces. "What do you mean, Erza? What is going on?"

With her eyes glued keenly in front if her, Erza explained all her discovery to Lucy and Gray. "This all happened because Natsu wanted to forget something in the past and activated this book's magic. If we aren't with him when he remembers who gave him that scar, we will be stuck in the past."

Lucy felt her face pale immensely, the healthy flush leaving her delicate features. However, she wasn't alone, for her male companion's throat went dry at the thought of reliving his past.

Erza sighed and somehow ran even faster, her body straining to its maximum ability. She could feel her muscles throb and her heart rattle erratically against her chest. No matter how fearless she seemed to be, she was extremely worried about their fate.

The view of their destination became clearer as the silhouette of a familiar dragon-slayer grew increasingly apparent. "NATSU!!!" The three screeched and the head of pink hair turned to their direction.

"Huh?"

Erza, Lucy, and Gray quickly jumped onto the mage, who was oblivious to the entire scenario. His will to shout, however, ceased as similar bright lights began to envelop the four wizards.

"We did it!" Gray exclaimed, and let out a sigh of relief as the lights diminished and he realized that they appeared to be back in the guild basement. The rest of them did the same, collapsing to the floor from all the stress the ordeal had bestowed upon them.

"Nothing changed, right? We're all the same?" Erza asked, and the two males hummed in affirmation - not consciously finding anything unfamiliar about themselves. The silence of the blonde, however, piqued Gray's interest as he approached the girl casually, with raised brows.

"How about you, Luce? Did something change?" He asked, leaning in towards her face to inspect it meticulously. He had to admit, he wasn't really concerned- just needed an excuse to draw himself nearer to the celestial mage. Unusually, he saw her eyes widen, along with her parted mouth, as her entire expression held ounces of shock in every feature of her face. A blush creeped its way up her neck and spread like wildfire throughout her supple cheeks.

"N-n-no! Nothing's wrong!!! I-I'm perfectly fine!" She squeaked, her eyes planted on anything that wasn't the ice mage, whose face was nearly inches away from her own. He quickly caught on to this as he attempted to move his face into her line of vision. Frowning, the man watched as her eyes darted around, not once taking a glance at him. An unreadable look crossed his handsome face.

Gray's playfulness quickly disappeared and he turned urgently to Erza and Natsu. "Something's wrong."

Happy flew up to Lucy's head and laughed. "No, I think she just liiiiiiiiiikes you!" He teased, rolling his tongue playfully. Lucy didn't deny the claim, but no one seemed to notice due to the thick air of concern. The red tint only intensified after Happy's suggestive quip. The man just simply swatted the cat away and maintained his stoic face.