Chapter Text
December 18th
Admittedly, Lucy did not see that morning coming. It was definitely not one of her best moments, and she doubted it was one of Natsu's either. Despite them parting on good terms the night before, the morning had dissolved into one of the largest fights they'd ever had. She knew she had said some things she'd not meant, and that Natsu likely hadn't meant half of what he'd said either, but still.
She blustered into the guildhall alone, scowling, and rather than finding a table as she usually would have, she ended up at the bar. Gajeel, who was already sitting there, eyed her with some reluctant interest, something metal sticking out of his mouth. Had she not been so upset, she'd have reminded him that it wasn't okay to eat Mirajane's favorite silverware. Unfortunately, she was upset though, and she decided she didn't care to deal with such a thing at the moment.
"What's your problem so early?" Gajeel asked, surprising her momentarily. He squinted warily, as if half-expecting her to dissolve into tears.
Which Lucy refused to do.
She would not cry over Natsu this morning.
Not until she got an apology from him.
"Natsu," she snarled, plucking Gajeel's coffee from him. He spluttered, glaring at her for it. Mirajane, bustling past with someone else's food, paused for just a moment to throw a sympathetic look at Lucy – and a new mug in Gajeel's direction.
"The hell did he do?"
Lucy rubbed her temples, exhaling slowly through her nose to try and settle her irritation a bit. "We got into a fight," she admitted. "It was stupid. I accidentally said something about how I usually hated Christmas because it's always been the loneliest holiday for me, and he got upset with me about it. He made a snide comment. I returned it. You get the idea." She folded her arms and rested her chin on them, biting the inside of her cheek to fight back the burning in her eyes.
Gajeel wrinkled his nose, clearly debating whether or not he had to sit there and help her with her current problems when Levy had just arrived, chattering with a cheerful Pantherlily, who'd just returned from some job he'd taken by himself. Lucy almost told him he didn't have to. She was alright with moping for the time being. He shocked her when he sighed, "Well, s'kinda obvious why he got mad at you."
"Not to me," muttered Lucy, twisting her head to look at him.
Rolling his crimson eyes to the ceiling as if praying for patience, Gajeel said gruffly, "He's mad 'cause he probably thinks you don't want him around for Christmas. Probably thinks you don't want any of us around for it."
Lucy snapped upright in horror. "I didn't say that though!" she cried. "I didn't even say I wanted to be alone! I just meant that the last few were horrible, that's all! I didn't get to celebrate at all after my mom died, and then I ran away and had no one, and last year–" She broke off, guilty. She'd spent last year's holiday alone with Natsu and Happy.
He probably thought she'd not thought it good enough.
Burying her face in her hands, Lucy moaned, "I'm an idiot."
"Yeah, well, go tell Salamander that," grumbled Gajeel. "Apologize."
Lucy didn't really want to apologize to Natsu. Even if she knew where she'd messed up, he'd still said really hurtful things, like telling her that Happy was a better partner than she was. Maybe he'd only said it because she'd hurt his feelings first, but still. Apologizing meant sucking up her pride and admitting she'd messed up first.
Which she had.
So she probably should apologize first.
Sighing, Lucy dragged her hands down her face. "I'll apologize when he gets here, I guess."
"Good. Now stop pesterin' me." Gajeel crammed what Lucy suspected was another piece of metal in his mouth, mostly because it screeched between his teeth. He glanced at the big clock Mirajane tended to keep on the wall of the guildhall, then hauled himself onto his barstool without warning. Lucy gawked up at him.
"On the fifth day of Chrsistmas," he sang, and Lucy knew she wasn't the only one fighting the urge to cover her ears, "Fairy Tail gave to me…five iron nails, four yummy fish, three new swords, two manly gifts, and a…" He paused then, making Asuka giggle hysterically from where she ate her breakfast with her parents when he made a face. "And a teddy bear just for me."
Finished, Gajeel hopped down, and everyone made sure to applaud and cheer for him. Lucy reached over to reassuringly pat his arm, ignoring the glower he gave her for it. "Levy will be very pleased," she said.
"Shut up," he snarled, but Lucy didn't miss how he looked to see what Levy thought. Sure enough, Levy was as delighted as Lucy had claimed she'd be, hopping up and down and clapping.
As Gajeel meandered away, Lucy scanned the guildhall for Natsu, figuring now would be as good a time as ever to apologize for what she'd said. Much to her disappointment, he wasn't there, which only made her feel all the worse, because she knew that one, he'd never missed the Twelve Days before, and two, he'd been longing to see Laxus or Gajeel be forced to participate.
Tears burning in her eyes, Lucy waved to catch Mirajane's attention, hoping she'd have something stronger than coffee available despite the time of day.