"Have I told you how much I love you, Luce?"

"Only about a hundred times, Natsu."

"Well, I'll say it for the hundred and first time. I love you."

"Then, for the hundred and first time, I love you, too."

All day long, Lucy thought about the dream she had had, which consisted of what looked like her and Natsu Dragneel talking in a green field. She had tried to forget about it, but it refused to leave her mind after the argument she and Dragneel had about love.

The people in her dream looked like they were serious when they said they loved each other. The only problem was that those people looked exactly like her and her biggest rival.

"Lucy, you're not still hung up over what happened this morning, are you?" Levy looked as concerned as she could while she struggled to keep her chin above the water.

Tweet!

"McGarden, I saw you! Stop trying to stand and start swimming! Five laps around the pool, now!"

At Ms. Rius' yell, Levy quickly began swimming like her life was on the line, which wasn't that far from the truth. Ms. Rius, the long-term substitute Pool Gym teacher, was known for being quite ruthless.

"Juvia wonders why Ms. Rius is always mean to all the students except Juvia," Juvia wondered as she floated calmly in the water.

"Are you kidding me?" Cana, a sophomore Lucy, Juvia, and Levy hung out with in Pool Gym, snorted as she came back from her own set of laps. "You're the only person I know who Ms. Rius doesn't prejudice against. She freaking loves you."

"Why is she so mean to us?" Lucy complained as she tried to do what their teacher had demonstrated earlier on. "She's only a substitute. I thought they didn't care what we did in class."

"Well, she is a long-term sub," Juvia pointed out. "She is probably trying to be like a real teacher."

"Or maybe she was bullied by other students when she was in school," Cana suggested. "Aqua Rius. Not a very nice name to live with, is it?"

"So that woman's ruthless because of childhood bullies?" Lucy said.

"No, that woman's ruthless because you little brats are bobbing around gossiping instead of doing what you're supposed to do!"

Lucy, Cana, and Juvia spun around quickly, gaping at the intimidating woman right in front of them.

"Heartfilia! Alberona! Fifty laps each! Go!"

Suppressing groans, Lucy and Cana went to the area specifically secluded for people doing laps.

"I swear, she hates us two the most," Lucy muttered to Cana before getting ready.

"Obviously, but at least we get to go home after this," Cana muttered back before taking off.

Not me, Lucy thought sourly, although she also got started on the laps. There were only five minutes left, and Ms. Rius doubled the amount of laps you couldn't finish in one period during the next one. The only good thing about this was that Lucy completely forgot about the dream.

"Come on, guys," Levy said as the girls walked out of the girls' locker room. "We have to go to Detention now. What room was it; 147?"

"Yes," Juvia nodded after waving bye to Cana, who had the pleasure of leaving already. "Juvia wonders if her Gray-sama will be there. . . ."

"I wonder if any of the guys are going to be there," Lucy said in response. "Do any of them even care about a detention?"

"I don't know about Natsu and Gray, but I know Gajeel isn't coming," Levy said with a sad expression. "I asked him in Music, and he said there was 'no way in hell he was going to waste his time sitting in school for an extra hour doing absolutely nothing.'"

Lucy smirked at Levy's tone. "Aw, don't be too disappointed, Levy-chan," she said, flinging her arm around Levy's shoulders. "You wouldn't get alone time with Gajeel anyway. Me and Juvia are going to be there, remember?"

Levy promptly turned a bright red, stepping away from Lucy. "I -- I don't want any alone time with Gajeel!"

"Juvia would like alone time with her Gray-sama," Juvia said dreamily, a weird look in her eyes. "Then Juvia and Gray-sama could do many things together."

"Um, yeah, let's not go there, Juvia." Lucy and Levy led to the heart-eyed Juvia, now in Juvia Land, to the detention room, where three guys were waiting outside.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia immediately leaped into Gray's arms, coming back to reality. "Juvia is sorry for what happened the other day. Please punish me for my wrongdoings by spanking me!"

"Wh-what?"

Juvia chased a bewildered Gray, who was running away from the girl, screaming for help.

"Gajeel?" Levy said to the second guy. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you weren't coming."

"I didn't come here for you, so don't kill yourself about it," Gajeel said, glaring at the tiny girl. "I just came because it would be boring to go home alone."

Next to him, the last person smirked. "Sure you did. Maybe you two can be book buddies for even longer, now."

Gajeel turned away, making a noise with his tongue.

"Anyways, why are you guys out here?" Lucy asked before it got really quiet and awkward. "Is the door locked?"

"No, we're out here because we're selling some stuff," Natsu said sarcastically. "Want this key? It's painted gold, and opens absolutely nothing but the stars to heaven. You'll need it."

"We don't need your sarcasm, Dragneel," Lucy said placidly. Seeing the salmon-haired person made her remember the dream again, making her feel slightly awkward around him.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "You sick, Heartfilia? Not that I'm complaining."

I love you.

"I'm fine," Lucy snapped as dream-Dragneel's voice came into her head. "I just want to get this detention over with as quickly as possible. Where the hell is the detention teacher?"

"Sorry I'm late, everyone!"

Lucy, Levy, Natsu, and Gajeel turned around to see a short woman run over to them.

"Ms. Vermillion?"

"Yes, sorry. We couldn't find someone to oversee your detention, so I'm taking over for today," the principal of Fairy Tail Prep said as she unlocked the door. "But wait, I thought there were six of you. Have two of you decided not to come?"

As if on cue, Gray and Juvia rounded the corner.

"I'm not into that kind of thing!" Gray yelled at Juvia, who was crawling behind Gray with her butt in the air. "Get the hell away from me!"

"Juvia must pay for her mistakes!"

"Juvia," Lucy sighed. "Ms. Vermillion is here. Let's be masochistic later, alright?"

Although Juvia looked disappointed, she still stood up, brushing the dust off of her knees. Gray, on the other hand, did not look so calm.

"The principal is our detention teacher?" he asked. "Ugh, this'll be even worse than I imagined it to be."

"I'm sorry I'm not the teacher you hoped for, Gray," Ms. Vermillion said with a small smile. "But let's go in for now, shall we?"

Everyone except Ms. Vermillion, Juvia, and Levy snickered as they watched Gray turn red, stammering as he tried to cover for himself.

"No, it's alright," Ms. Vermillion said pleasantly. "Just . . . everyone please take a seat. Anywhere you'd like, but within the first two rows, please."

Lucy, Juvia, and Levy sat in the first row, closest to the windows, and Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel sat in the second row, closest to the door. Basically, they were sitting as far away from each other as they could.

"Alright, then!" Clapping her hands together once, Ms. Vermillion sat on top of the teacher's desk, kicking her shoes off. "Now, what do you six want to do?" she asked brightly, swinging her legs.

For a moment, everyone just stared at her. None of them had seen the principal -- or any other staff or student -- act that way. A long silence ensued, but this didn't deter Ms. Vermillion. Instead, she swung her head to the right, where the boys were.

"Natsu, why don't you suggest something we do?"

"M-me?"

Before either of them could do anything, the door opened again, and three people could be seen at the door.

"Sorry, First," the tall one in the center said gruffly, "but I've got two more students for you." Mr. Clive pushed the students at his sides into the classroom.

"Erza?"

"Jellal?"

The girls and guys were stunned for the third time, and watched as the last of their group joined them.

"Oh, I didn't realize we would be having more. Thank you for bringing them, Gildarts," Ms. Vermillion said, smiling at the Gym teacher.

"I wouldn't be that thankful," he responded, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms. "The guy's Jellal Fernandez: the one who cuts all the time. The girl's Erza Scarlet: she was caught with a lit cigarette in her fingers."

"Look, it was our first time, alright?" Erza defended before Lucy, Levy, or Juvia could say anything. "Seriously! And we didn't even get to try it out. . . . Um, not that we will," she added quickly when she saw Ms. Vermillion sitting on the table.

"They were also kissing when I caught them," Mr. Clive continued. "PDA isn't allowed. I don't care how old you guys are."

"First of all, we're both nineteen," Jellal said. "We're seniors. And we weren't even inside the school when it happened. And second of all, it's not fair to refer to me as 'the one who cuts all the time.' Don't you know?"

"It doesn't matter if you're nineteen or twenty nine. If you're a student here, no PDA. And you were leaning against the school's wall. Last I checked, that's school property. And I do know, but you're supposed to be a student, so act like one."

"Oh, don't be too hard on them, Gildarts," Ms. Vermillion said as she laughed. "I remember hearing the stories about all those girls surrounding you when you were their age. And I'm pretty sure you experimented, too."

Natsu laughed in his seat. "This big guy? No way."

Mr. Clive looked down at him. "Are you three in my class?" he asked to Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel. "I feel like I've seen you lot before, but I don't think it's from Gym."

"Um, we actually have Gym with you tomorrow," Natsu said quickly.

"Right," Gajeel quickly agreed. "We, um, played dodgeball last time, right?"

"Oh, definitely," Gray chimed in quickly.

Lucy watched the three of them babble for a while, until a flash of scarlet passed in her vision.

"You!" Lucy hissed to Erza quietly. "Since when did you kiss Jellal Fernandez? What are you, his girlfriend?"

Erza looked away pointedly, crossing her arms. "It's not official yet," she mumbled, causing Levy and Juvia to squeal.

"Oh, was it your first kiss?"

"Did you lean in first?"

"Juvia wishes she could kiss Gray-sama."

"Have you two always been that close?"

As Levy and Juvia bombarded Erza with endless questions, Lucy just thought quietly.

It was more than obvious to Lucy that Juvia liked Gray, and Levy liked Gajeel. Now, it turned out Erza and Jellal were one step away from being an official couple. All three of her friends had something for all three of Dragneel's friends.

Have I told you how much I love you, Luce?

It wasn't like Lucy could tell her friends not to like Dragneel's friends, Lucy thought furiously, trying to block out the dream. She was their friend, not their dictator; she couldn't tell them what to do or not do.

Well, I'll say it for the hundred and first time.

If something actually happened between Lucy's friends and Dragneel's friends, what would become of her and Dragneel? Unconsciously, her mind thought back to three words said by two people to each other.

I love you.

But that was just a dream, right? Dreams didn't predict the future, so she had nothing to worry about. Why was she even stressing over this anyway? Ugh, it was all that damn Dragneel's fault.

"Stupid Dragneel for appearing in my dream," Lucy muttered much louder than she had cared to.

"I appeared in your what?"

A/N:
You couldn't have thought I actually would've left Jerza out of detention. Anyways, I hope this isn't getting too boring. Maybe I'll do more time skips.