The day of the Gala came sooner than Kayla wanted. Sure, she was excited for it, but she was also nervous, and her guildmates forcing her into a changing room that was in the building the Gala was being held in didn't help with her nerve at all. She was currently sitting in one of the chairs with the dress she was going to wear draped over her arms.

"You don't plan on sitting there all night, do you?" Someone asked, and Kayla looked up to see Erza standing over her.

"Well, to be honest I'd prefer to, I haven't actually been to something like this before so I don't really know what to do." She admitted, causing most of the girl who heard her stop and stare, making her shrink in her skin.

Erza looked taken aback at what Kayla said, "Are you serious?" She asked.

Kayla nodded. "Believe it or not, I was... sheltered... growing up. I wasn't really allowed outside." Kayla said with a shrug, "I've only really ever heard of these things." She placed a hand on the back of her head and nervously laughed, feeling the eyes of almost everyone in the room on her.

Lucy walked up to her and held out her hand, "Don't worry. They're not too bad, we'll all help you get ready."

Kayla hesitated before taking Lucy's hand, "Thanks..." she muttered as she slowly walked to stand behind a curtain.

***

"Come on, Kayla, you can't stay in there all night." Evergreen said, "Everyone's already left, and I'm not waiting for you here forever."

Kayla was hiding in the room all of the girls changed in, her cheeks red. "I-I can't there's absolutely no way I can go out there like this!"

"You look fine." Evergreen said, reaching in and grabbing Kayla's wrist as she pulled the younger mage out of the room.

Kayla stumbled slightly, her cheeks slightly red as she looked up, "Evergreen..." she muttered.

"You look fine." Evergreen said, rolling her eyes. "Now come on, let's go." She said and started walking down the hallway.

Kayla took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves as she pulled at the hem of her dress which personally felt way too short. Her dress was simple compared to what the other girls were wearing. It was blue and sleeveless, but had a collar that reached up to her neck and covered the whole of her back, there was a golden belt with a small golden bow. The bottom of the dress was a dark blue form fitting skirt with a layer of fabric laying neatly on the sides. Luckily the dress came with gloves so her seal would be hidden.

After she adjusted her dress as much as she could, she looked up to see where she and Evergreen were. They had arrived at the ballroom, Kayla stood in the doorway and looked around at everyone who was in there, and just as she decided to step inside, she was confronted by three men.

"My, you're a lovely young woman." One said, coming up from behind Kayla, running a hand through his dark hair, she had heard his name was Ren.

"You're Kayla, am I correct?" Another one asked, coming up on Kayla's left— Hibiki.

"My, the descriptions we've heard of you does not do you justice." Another boy, younger than the other two, said as he came up on Kayla's right— Eve.

Kayla's cheeks grew warm as she started to stutter over her words, not knowing exactly what to say to them.

"Come on guys, don't you know you're scaring her?" A familiar person asked, and Kayla felt some relief when she saw Finny walking up to her.

"Oh, were we? We're sorry!" They all said, bowing at Kayla, who just nodded.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to my friend."

"Of course, Finnian!" They all exclaimed before moving away from the two— most likely to flirt with other woman.

"Thanks, Finny." Kayla said, "How do you stand those guys?"

"A lot of patience, and it helps to be deemed a person of respect among them." He scratched the back of his neck before turning, "The others are over here. Come on." He lead the two of them to where the other three were standing. Hopefully she would be able to just stand and talk with them for the most of the night.

***

Half an hour later, Kayla found out the night was not going to go how she hoped. Finny had been dragged away by a group of girls, April and Valorie had gone to grab some food, and Melody was with Finny, flirting with most of the girls that were surrounding him.

She sighed and just walked over to the the food table, grabbing a slice of cake and biting into it. Tensing up, her eyes widened and she shoveled it into her mouth and finished it.

"You must really like that." Someone said and Kayla turned around and looked at Erza with embarrassment.

"Uh. Yeah. I've never had anything like it before." Kayla said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head.

Erza grabbed a slice of cake for herself, "The bakeries in Crocus always seem to have the best tasing cakes, everything always seems fresher here."

Kayla nodded, not wanting to say that she's never had cake before, and she just let Erza think what she wanted to think.

"Those wizard you were with earlier, do you know them?"

"Oh, them? Uh, yeah. I guess you could say I grew up with them. We had to part ways a while back, but thankfully we all found somewhere to fit."

Erza nodded, before the was a loud crash behind her. "I'd love to talk more, but I need to take care of something."

"Ah, alright." Kayla said, watching her leave before looking around the ballroom, spotting a familiar man in the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw that Laxus was sneaking out of the ballroom, and Kayla was slightly curious as to where he was going, so, she followed after him.

She caught up to him quickly, "You're leaving early." She said, causing the taller wizard to stop and turn to look at her.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, newbie. Why'd you follow me?"

Kayla shrugged, speeding up slightly to walk beside him. "I don't have to explain myself to you, either." She retorted.

"Well, don't expect me to talk to you. I'm just going for some fresh air."

"Alright."

The two of them silently walked down the hall, until they got to a nearby courtyard, where Laxus settled down under a tree and Kayla found herself crouching in front of some sweet-smelling flowers.

"So, what's your deal, anyways?" Laxus asked.

"My what?"

"Your deal. I've noticed that ever since that Storm Bringer mission you've been on edge, and don't think I didn't notice you glancing out the windows as we were walking."

Kayla didn't realize she had been that obvious with how on edge she was. "It's nothing. I'm just on edge since the announcement about the Fearsome Five, that's all. Aren't you worried about them?"

"How bad can they be? They haven't done anything so far if they really are on the run, and the biggest threat is probably posers like that guy we beat a while ago."

"Yeah... I guess you're right." Kayla muttered.

And just like that, the conversation ended, but Kayla knew that she needed tell him about who she really was— she was going to be telling the Master once they got back, and she had been going on jobs with the Thunder Legion for a while now, it was only right to tell him first, right?

Kayla took a deep breath and— "Hey Laxus?"

"Hm?"

"I haven't been completely honest with you guys."

——————
Below is Kayla in her dress! It took a while, but I love how it came out!