“Good morning, Carla,” Happy smiled, hopping onto the table beside the white Exceed. “You look pretty today.” She was wearing a blue dress that had a pink ribbon around her middle which tied in the back in a bow.

            She huffed and pretended to ignore him, but Happy still saw her blush.

            “I bought Carla a new dress yesterday,” Wendy said. “She was really excited to wear it today.”

            “Of course I was,” Carla said, defensively, “you bought it for me, so that's why.”

            “I think she just wanted a certain someone to see her in it,” Lucy whispered, causing Wendy to giggle.

            “Who?” Happy asked, wondering who Carla would care to impress.

            “Oh, just—“

            “No one!” Carla snapped, interrupting Lucy as her face turned a darker shade of pink.

            Happy frowned as the others laughed. Who would Carla be excited to show her new dress?He wished it was him. He had liked Carla since the day he first saw her, but she was always so serious. She had stopped calling him “tom cat”, so he guessed that was a good thing.

            “Good morning, everyone,” Mirajane smiled, approaching their table with a tray of drinks. “Have you all found dates for the party tonight?”

            “Natsu asked me yesterday,” Lucy told her.

            “I-I'm going with R-Romeo,” Wendy said, quietly.

            “I forgot all about it!” Happy gasped. As a way to get to know the newer guild, Master had invited everyone from Sabertooth to come to the guildhall for a party. “Carla, do you want to go with me?” He asked.

            She pursed her lips, then sighed. “Master did encourage us to go with partners, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt.”

            “Was—was that a yes?” Happy asked.

            “Yes,” she told him. He stared at her for a long time, startled that she had actually said yes.

            “It looks like Happy doesn't know what to say,” Mira giggled.

            “That's a first,” Lucy murmured.

            “I—I need to do something,” Happy said, flying to the other side of the guildhall where Natsu was sitting with the other men. He was arguing with Gray about something again, so Happy interrupted them.

            “Natsu!!”

            “What is it, little buddy?” Natsu chuckled, catching him.

            “I need your help!”

            “With what?”

            “Carla—Carla agreed to go to the party with me!”

            “So, she finally said yes,” Gray smirked.

            “I have to impress her, Natsu! Come on! Let's go buy me something to wear tonight!”

            “Just wear what you usually do,” Natsu said, “that's what everyone else is doing.”

            “I have to at least buy her some flowers or something!” He grabbed the back of Natsu's vest and flew out the doors with him before he could object.

            Reluctantly, Natsu walked around Magnolia with him as he searched for the perfect gift for Carla. After a while, they came upon a little clothing shop. The clothes inside were quite fancy, and looked rather expensive.

            “Happy,” Natsu sighed, “why are we here? It's not like you're buying her a dress, right?”

            “No,” Happy frowned, “but I had an idea. I want to get her a bow to match her new dress!”

            “If you're looking for bows, you've come to the right place,” a woman smiled, appearing in front of them. She was wearing the same expensive-looking attire that one would find in the shop, and looked like she knew a lot about fashion. “Follow me. I'll show you to our ribbon section.”

            Along the back wall were strands of ribbon in every color. Happy didn't even know they made ribbon in all those colors.

            “Is there anything specific you're looking for?” The woman asked.

            “Pink,” Happy said, remembering the ribbon on Carla's dress.

            “Here is our pink section,” she smiled, showing him about seven strands of ribbon—all different shades of pink.

            “That one,” Happy told her, pointing to one of the strands. It was a light pink, and was the exact color of the ribbon on Carla's dress.

            “Wonderful choice,” the woman nodded. “How big would you like the bow?”

            The two men stared blankly at her, not sure what to say. With a giggle, she placed Happy on top of the counter and began tying the ribbon around his ear.

            “Uh, what are you doing?” Happy asked.

            “I'm guessing the girl you're buying this for is a cat like you, so the ears should be about the same, right?”

            “Oh,” he said, “yeah.”

            “There,” she smiled, taking it off of him. She threaded a needle and expertly sewed the material in place. Once it was finished, she placed it in a bag, put in some tissue paper, and handed it to Happy.

            “Thanks,” Happy beamed.

            “No problem,” the woman said, ringing up the price. “It was a fairly small bow, so let's just say four-thousand Jewel.”

            “That's doable,” Natsu nodded, handing her the money.

            When they left, Natsu smiled down at him. “It's about time for me to go pick up Lucy, so I'll see you at the guildhall.”

            Happy nodded, then walked to Fairy Tail. He was nervous about giving Carla her present. She had been kind enough to agree to go with him, so he hoped she liked it.

            He could hear the music and loud voices from the Fairy Tail and Sabertooth wizards before he even opened the doors of the guildhall. The main hall was packed, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. He found Carla sitting at a table by herself, so he immediately went to her.

            “Hey, Carla. Where's Wendy?”

            “Dancing with Romeo,” she sighed, pointing to where they were dancing. “She's growing up so fast.”

            “Do you want to dance?” Happy asked.

            “Me?” She looked surprised, “oh, no. I don't dance.”

            “Oh,” he frowned, sitting next to her. He perked up when he remembered the bow he had bought for her. “I got you something,” he said, handing the bag to her.

            “A present?” She asked with wide eyes, taking the bag.

            “Y-Yeah,” Happy said, blushing, “as a thank you for going with me.”

            She opened it, staring in wonder at the bow once she had pulled it from the bag.

            “Do you like it?” He asked, nervously.

            “I love it,” she nodded. He nearly fell off the table when she smiled at him. She had the prettiest smile of anyone he had ever seen.

            “You were excited about your new dress, so I though you might like a new bow to go with it.”

            She placed the bow on her left ear, still smiling when she looked at Happy. “How does it look?”

            “I think everything looks great on you, Carla,” Happy smiled, blushing a little.

            Her face turned scarlet at his words, and she quickly stood up.

            “Carla?” He asked, thinking he had upset her.

            “If the offer is still open, I would love to dance,” she mumbled.

            “Really?” Happy asked, excitedly.

            “Y-Yes,” she said.

            “Then let's dance!” He grabbed her paw and dragged her out onto the makeshift dance floor in the center of the room. They danced to about three fast songs before a slow song came on and everyone paired up to dance with their date.

            “Well?” Carla asked, looking at him expectantly.

            “Well what?” Happy frowned.

            “Are we going to dance, or not?”

            “Oh,” he smiled, grabbing her paws, “yeah!”

            It was awkward at first, but Carla slowly relaxed as the song went on. “I don't know who you were excited to see you in your new dress, Carla, but I bet they were impressed. It looks really cute on you.”

            She blushed again, and stopped dancing. “Happy,” she sighed, meeting his eyes, “it was you.”

            “Me?” He gasped.

            She nodded. “I wanted you to see me in it, so I'm sure you can guess how happy I am that you liked it—and even bought me a bow to match it.”

            “Me?” He asked again, still in shock. Carla was excited for me to see her new dress? So, that means— “You like me?”

            She blushed harder and frowned down at her feet. “It's not exactly that, per se, but I am quite fond of you, Tom Cat.” She smiled as she said the last part, and looked back up at him.

            “I—I love you, too, Carla!” Happy shouted, unable to contain his joy.

            “That's not what I said!” She snapped when several people stopped dancing in order to watch them.

            He grabbed her paws, not paying attention to their audience, “w-will you be my girlfriend?”

            “What?” Her eyes were wide as they met his.

            “I promise to always protect you, and I'll never let you down! So, please be my girlfriend!”

            “You're being loud,” Carla whispered with a scarlet face.

            “W-Well?” He asked, too focused on her answer to care about anyone else.

            “If you shut up,” she sighed.

            “AYE!!” He cried, hugging her.

            “Stupid Tom Cat,” she giggled, hugging him back.