Konnichiwa, minna! I'm back with another chapter! Thank you for everyone's support until now! It's kind of unbelievable that I've made it to 31 chapters and 2K reads! Ah! I wanto to squeal, but my mom's in the room. Oh and for you Sasusaku fans out there, I've recently published a fanfic called Torn so go check it out! I currently only have one chapter, but the second one should be up soon after this one! So without further ado, here is chapter 31!

          As Juvia prepared Lucy for the ball, it was obvious she noticed something was wrong, but seeing as Lucy wasn't telling her anything, she didn't ask. Lucy sat patiently as Juvia did the final touches of her makeup, a quiet determination blazing in her eyes.

          "There, all done, Lucy-san," Juvia said, backing away so Lucy could get up.

          Lucy went to the giant mirror hanging in her room and observed herself. She hated to admit that she looked stunning; Juvia had worked her magic per usual. She was wearing a magnificent blood red dress that Mira had made for her especially for the ball. It had a square neckline and was tight on her upper body before the skirt fanned out in layers covered in sparkles, almost like the petals of a rose. The sleeves were done in the same fashion and fanned out at the elbows. Her hair was let down and curled with a red rose pin on the side. She had strappy red heels on that just barely showed form beneath the skirt of her dress, giving her some height. Her makeup was impeccable as well. She had on a light layer of cherry lip-gloss, blush, mascara, winged eyeliner, and a red smoky eye. She really hated that she looked so beautiful for the event that she was dreading, but nonetheless plastered a close-eyed smile on her face as she turned to Juvia and said, "Arigatou, Juvia! Impeccable as always!"

          "Lucy-san, is something the matter?" Juvia asked immediately noticing how fake Lucy's voice was, her eyebrows knotted together in concern.

          "Of course! Nothing is the matter! Got to go now! Ball and all!" Lucy said in fake cheerfulness as she backed towards the door.

          "Wait! Lucy-san!" Juvia called, but it was no use as Lucy was already out the door.

          Lucy started walking down the corridor, a sad smile on her face. Of course Juvia noticed; nothing got past her. No wonder she was such a good friend.

          Lucy's face was cast downwards as she continued walking so she didn't notice that she was walking right into someone. Her face collided with a hard chest and she felt herself fall backwards, but a strong arm pulled her up immediately.

          "Thank you-" she started but froze when she saw who it was.

          "Let go of me!" Lucy said, as she ripped herself away from Gray's grasp.

          "Lucy, just listen to me for a sec!" Gray pleaded.

          Lucy shook her head and started to walk away when his next words stopped her.

          "Aren't you the one who said that friends should work out their problems instead of staying mad at each other?"

          Lucy had stopped but did not turn around.

          "The reason I said... what I said is because I care about you," he began.

          Lucy resisted the urge to scoff and continued to listen to what Gray had to say.

          "It's just that you've been through so many horrible suitors, and especially the last one, and it just had me scared that when your dad settled on someone it would be someone horrible like that. When the possibility that the one your dad chose was Loke, it just felt like a huge relief to me because I know that he's a good guy. When you made the point that I'm actually with Juvia, I realized how I was making you feel and how crazy I sounded to you. It's just that after all these years of you being forced to court suitors, I got used to the idea that you would have to settle on someone, and thought Loke had the best chance of making you happy," he explained with a remorseful and sincere expression on his face.

          Lucy's heart softened at his words, and she was able to see the logic he had used to come to his conclusion. He had actually just been looking out for her future. She turned around to face him with a small smile on her face.

          "So...am I forgiven?" he asked in a hopeful voice, wincing in anticipation.

          "Yes," she said, hugging him.

          He sighed in relief as he hugged her back.

          "I am so sorry, Lucy, you have no idea. I guess I didn't think everything through and didn't look at things in your point of view. I am really sorry," he said into her hair.

          "It's ok. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gotten so worked up without thinking about why you were saying that, and I should have kept in mind that you've always done whats best for me. Sorry," Lucy said, smiling into his chest, which was clothed for once.

          "All's forgiven, darling," he said in a slightly mocking tone.

          "Heh, heh, okay," Lucy giggled.

          "Now then, let me just..." Gray said as he wiped some smeared makeup off Lucy's face. "There we go. Can't have you going down to the ball like that, right?"

          "Thanks," Lucy smiled.

          "Now then, shall we go, sis," he teased as he stuck his arm out.

          "Yes, we shall, bro," she said with a smirk as she looped her arm through his, and with that they walked with a small hop in their step towards the ballroom.

          The ball was being held in one of the three ballrooms of the castle, the Grand Room as it was called, was only ever used for grand occasions, such as this one apparently. The arrival of a prince from another kingdom out of the blue, and especially from one as prestigious as the kingdom of Celestial had caused a large wave of excitement amidst the population of the kingdom of Fiore. The prospect of a union between two of the most powerful kingdoms on the continent was cause for a large celebration, and that was the reason why scores of people were now filing into the castle through the guest entrance of the castle.

          Lucy gulped as she looked out one of the windows and self-consciously tugged at the sleeves of her dress. Hordes of people made her nervous especially because she was supposed to one day be responsible for all those people. Gray squeezed her arm reassuringly and led her to a stop at the ballroom doors reserved for royalty. Lucy took a deep breath in before she said, "Okay, I'm ready."

          Gray snapped his fingers and the big gold doors effortlessly swung open to reveal the ballroom. It was enormous and very elegantly furnished with marble furniture, a glass dance floor, a huge diamond chandelier that illuminated the whole room, the wide balconies that could be mistaken for terraces, and rich red curtains. Everything screamed royalty and riches.

          Lucy walked out of the shadow of the doorway where she had stopped momentarily, and onto the dais where the thrones sat atop a set of stairs. As soon as she did so, it was as if time itself had stopped as all the chatter that had previously filled the ballroom ceased in an instant. All eyes turned to her, and Lucy gulped self-consciously. She then straightened her back, crossed her hands gently in front of her, and smiled genuinely.

          "Welcome, my wonderful subjects and thank you all for coming this evening to show your warm welcome to Prince Loke of the Kingdom of Celestial," Lucy said with practiced ease as she gestured with her arm below where Loke and his entourage stuck out like a sore thumb.

          The entire crowd turned their attention to Loke and his guards. Loke bowed naturally and pushed up his glasses. Scorpio waved, Aquarius mustered up a stiff wave, and Aries shrank behind Loke as she smiled shyly. The whole crowd clapped in welcome before turning back to Lucy.

          "Now, let us all enjoy this lovely ball, shall we?" she said as she spread her arms wide open in a grand gesture.

          Everyone clapped again before turning back to what they were doing. The band that was hired for the ball started up a song and people started crowding to the dance floor. Lucy sighed in relief as she sank into the smaller of the two thrones on the dais.

          "You did well," a voice whispered in her ear.

          Lucy started and turned to face a smiling Erza.

          "Geeze, Erza, don't sneak up on me like that!" Lucy scolded lightly.

          "Sorry, your highness, but I could not resist," Erza said as her smile grew wider.

         Lucy frowned at her use of "your highness", but knew it was necessary today. She scanned Erza up and down for the first time and her mouth hung open in awe. She was stunning! Her hair was up in a bun that became a ponytail at the end with a golden ornament in her hair that had a ruby dangling down from it, and her bangs covering her right eye. She was wearing ruby earrings and a thick golden necklace. Her gown was absolutely beautiful: the top was black with a square neckline decorated with a white design and long sleeves while the skirt was white and fanned out down to her feet.

          "Erza! You are gorgeous!" she exclaimed as she grabbed Erza's hands in her own.

          "W-What? A-Arigatou, Hime-sama, but I'm surely not as beautiful as you!" Erza stammered.

          "Nonsense! You are way prettier than me, Erza! If only Jellal could see you now," Lucy said with fervor.

          Erza blushed at her love's name and looked away bashfully.

          "A-Arigatou, Hime-sama," she said slowly.

          Lucy grinned and turned back towards the dance floor. It looked so inviting. Even if those dance classes killed her, she hated to admit that she did love to dance. Yes, she was controversial that way, but if she was doing it of her own free will, she enjoyed it.

          "You want to go dance don't you?" Erza asked.

          "Wha-no!" Lucy denied vehemently, but Erza only smiled a knowing smile in response.

          Lucy looked to the dance floor with longing before sighing a defeated sigh, "Yes, I do."

          "Well then why don't you?" she asked simply, her deep brown eyes flashing.

          "Well..."Lucy trailed off as she looked at the gold throne next to her, identical in every way except that it was larger in size. No explanation was needed.

          "Well, he's not here now is he? Plus, this ball is also for you. There's no restriction on the princess enjoying herself a bit. Go mingle. Oh, and take Gray with you. He's over there sulking because Juvia isn't here with him," she said, jabbing a finger behind her at a moody Gray leaning against a pillar.

          Lucy looked over at Gray and smiled sadly. If not for her father, Juvia would be able to attend the ball and they could be having the time of their lives. She guessed she owed him.

          "Alright," she said, defeated, and stood up.

          "That's my girl," Erza said proudly as she slapped Lucy in the back. Lucy bit back a scream and tried to smile at Erza. She never did know how to measure her strength. As she started walking towards Gray, a flutter of the red curtains covering the giant rectangle windows caught her eye, and she saw a flash of blue. Her footsteps slowed and she squinted to try and catch sight of it again, but just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone.

          "Whatcha staring at?" Gray's voice said from beside her, startling her. She hadn't noticed she was already next to him.

          "Oh, nothing," Lucy said, sparing the curtains another glance.

          She turned and smiled at Gray, "So, wanna dance?

I hope you guys enjoyed that little chapter! Well, little, this chapter has been longer than my usual ones so I hope you enjoyed that. Sorry but there won't be an interview today cause honestly I have a lot to do today and I need to get Chapter 2 of Torn up. Vote, comment, and share! Until next time! Ja ne!