It was an ordinary day at the guild. Lucy Heartfilia, a blonde, celestial mage, stared blankly at the Fairy Tail insignia as she was thinking about her monthly dues, and by monthly dues, it was specifically meant as her apartment's rental payment.

"How will I get to pay it next week? There are no available jobs for me to do..."

She must have had uttered that loudly because, in a matter of seconds, a certain raven-haired wizard approached her.

"Why don't you come along on a mission with me, Lucy?"

"Huh...?" Lucy was a little bit surprised by his friend's sudden appearance.

"Gray! How long have you been standing there?!"

"Hmmm... Long enough to witness you being in distress..." Gray told Lucy nonchalantly. 

 "So, are you coming or not?" he asked the blonde mage once again, slightly playing with his ice-make magic and forming it with a question mark.

As  Lucy stared at the sign, which Gray had just created, she couldn't help but think about his whereabouts. After all, she hadn't been on a mission with him, it was always the five of them, and that includes Natsu, Erza, Happy, Gray, and of course, herself. Aside from that, if not with the four of them, she had always been with her best buddy, Natsu, and by the way, Happy, as well.

However, today is different. Natsu and Happy were out, having some endurance training with Gildarts on a mountain, and just how could she keep up with that. So, her thoughts trailed back once again to Gray.

"Could you at least tell me first what kind of mission that is, and where are we supposed to go?" She curiously asked her ice wizard friend.

"Oh, 'bout that... Here!" Gray almost shoved the request paper to Lucy through one of his hands before giving it to her.

Just as Lucy had her glimpse of that paper, her eyes bulged upon seeing the word, WINTER.

"Gray, I'm sorry but, I don't think I can come with you. As far as myself is concerned, I'm happy that we're not having a winter this season, and I'm not that idiot to let myself be driven towards a place where there's literally winter." Lucy frankly told the ice wizard.

"I know, but, I think you'll be desperate enough upon hearing this..."

"Okay, shoot..."

"Well, there's this upcoming big Winter event that will happen in Naissur kingdom, and they need someone who can make a huge ice display for the said event," Gray explained to his doubtful friend.

"Naissur kingdom! Th...That's miles from here!"

"Yeah, I know, chill... You know Luce, you don't have to worry about transportation. There's a chopper that will wait for us at Mt. Hakobe. Now, if we succeed in this mission, we can receive 1 million Jewels, Luce. We can split it in half after."

"One... one million jewels!" Lucy squealed, and she almost collapsed when she heard the amount.

"But, ice make magic is your forte, Gray, how am I supposed to be of help to you? Besides, what about Juvia, wouldn't she be hysterical about me, and the love rival thing?" Lucy anxiously said, while slightly imitating Juvia's spine-chilling expression of jealousy.

"She's also on a mission with Gajeel, and please... Just think of this as me, helping you instead of you, helping me."

"Alrightyy, then, what are you waiting for?!" The celestial mage was suddenly now fired up! This is all because of one thought, the number of jewels that she and Gray would receive after finishing the mission. She was, in fact, thinking about shopping since she would only pay less than a quarter for her rent. Yet, the moment she was about to open the door, Gray instantly blurted out.

"Wait a minute, are you sure you're going there with only that?" His arms were crossed against his chest while, his eyes darted towards Lucy's outfit, which is her usual, the skirt plus her tank top.

Seeing Gray made a chuckle, Lucy was a bit embarrassed. However, she only smiled sheepishly, "I'll just go and get changed, wait for me here." Then, she immediately went off to her place to change clothes.

The next day, Lucy and Gray arrived at Naissur kingdom, at exactly 10 in the morning. Lucy was still exhausted, as they depart from Mt. Hakobe at 7 in the evening, and thus, they didn't have enough sleep. If one would think about Lucy as typical as the way she had been, she was now inside her horologium, so, she isn't that cold. Meanwhile, Gray was walking side by side with the horologium. Coldness didn't bother the ice wizard at all.

They have been walking for almost 2 hours already since they arrived. The event organizer told them that, they should head towards the mountain's shoulder, where the happening will take place. After a while of having a tiresome walk, a pact of sled dogs, navigated by a certain woman came near Lucy and Gray. As soon as the dogs stopped, Lucy closed the gate of horologium so that she can move out.

"So cute!" She shrieked with excitement at the Huskies. Then, the woman, who was the navigator moved slightly down from her sled to get closer to them.

"Welcome mages of Fairy Tail! I am Natalya, the main organizer of this event and as much as I'm ashamed to speak of, the queen of Naissur."

"QQueennn...!" Gray and Lucy yelled in unison, then, instantly, they bowed to Queen Natalya.

"Oh, please, drop the formalities, we're here to have fun. Besides, I'm looking forward to the ice wizard's ice display." Her eyes literally sparkled, as she eyed both of them.

"That would be him, my queen," Lucy responded in a self-conscious way. The queen just nodded with glee while calling out some men, who also brought more sled dogs. And with that, they sled all the way to the specific area, much to Lucy and Gray's delight! They were fascinated by the dogs, while they maneuvered their way here and there.

Around 3 hours had passed and Gray was almost finished with his masterpiece. Lucy, on the other hand, was watching over his belongings. The "Winter Wonderland" event started as soon as Gray finished making his ice display. Natalya, along with the rest of the people was amazed by his creation. Gray made a human size ice castle that somehow resembled that of Naissur. It was spectacular to watch since, he had made sure that the sunlight would reflect the surface of the ice, making it looked like a glass castle. Then, he made a huge arena, where the event would then be initiated by Natalya, herself.

"Ladies and gentlemen... Welcome to our annual Winter celebration! As of this year, our theme is Winter Wonderland. You can see how our ice wizard here created a somewhat glass castle, and boy, he had done it fascinatingly!." She gestured a hand at Gray, for people to acknowledge him. He waved a hand despite how shy he was. "And by the way, he also brought along his girlfriend with him, Lucy..." Queen Natalya suddenly blabbed, much to Lucy's blood flow which went directly towards her cheeks and ears. Gray, on the other hand, pretended he didn't hear it.

"Everybody... A round of applause to our Fairy Tail wizards, Gray and Lucy."

Everybody clapped at the two, and a few seconds after, Natalya had now officially started the Winter event.

"Now, for our first activity... Let's head 200 meters north, for our Snow kayaking!"

Soon after, the two mages were now having the time of their lives. As for the once hesitant, Lucy, the Snow kayaking contest gave her a surge of excitement throughout her nerves. Although it wasn't her who really held the paddles, she was still thrilled at the ride. At the moment, she relished the cool breeze that brushed her skin, as it brought tingles on her cheeks whilst the kayak was moving speedily. She was also able to observe Gray in amusement. He was so good at letting the paddles steer in control. 

"This is totally sledding to the extreme!" She yelled at his kayak buddy enthusiastically, earning a delightful smirk from the latter. After moments of dashing and flying throughout the less of a friction lane, Lucy and Gray managed to be on the 3rd place,  still, that didn't stop the slippery wax from letting them fly at extreme speeds over a kilometer from the finish line.

"Yipee...! Can you believe it, Gray, we're in the 3rd place. We shall be getting 5,000 Jewels, aside from the amount, stated on the request note."

"See, this isn't really a bad mission, right?"

Gray responded earnestly, yet, deep inside he was quite relieved that Lucy seemed to enjoy this mission.

"Let's go!..." Gray swiftly held one of Lucy's arm to grab her, which had surprised the lass.

"What now?!..." She asked, yet at the same time, she let herself get hauled by him.

"We're going Ice blocking..." He gave her a snicker.

It was already late afternoon, and soon enough, it would be the sun's last rays that would peek out from the horizon.

"Wow! I didn't know that a simple game as such would be so much fun..." Lucy remarked in a tone with so much pleasure.

"You bet... And I think it's more fun to do it during winter, you know, the colder the merrier..." Gray responded in a teasing manner by wiggling his eyebrows. Lucy understood what he meant, after all, cold would really bother her. Then, she smacked his arm, making him jolt in surprise.

"You hit hard, you know that..."

Unknowingly, Lucy had already created a snowball, then, she aimed it at Gray.

"Haha!... Serves you right."

"So, you wanna fight, huh?... Then bring it on Blondie!" Gray was now preparing a couple of snowballs to get thrown at Lucy, and so was the other. Hence, the snow fighting between the two officially began.

Evening came and the two mages were trekking on their way to an upward hill. At first, Lucy thought they would be meeting the chopper to bring them home, yet, as soon as Gray had stopped walking and began pulling some equipment from his huge bag, she realized it wasn't yet time to go back.

Gray had now assembled a medium size tent, and without hesitation, Lucy helped out too.

"I thought we're going home," Lucy spoke in an unconscious manner, hoping it would give her an idea of Gray's current plan.

"I was told that there will be a Fireworks display around the castle grounds at midnight. It would be hard to miss it out." Gray winked. They were now done setting up the tent.

"Oh... I don't want to miss something like that either, but, fireworks around this area?" "Are we expecting an avalanche here?" Lucy queried sarcastically as she felt anxious about the said event.
She suddenly felt an urge to go home immediately. Meanwhile, Gray felt the opposite, he was more excited about it.

"I guess, there's one way to find out Luce. You just have to trust me on this... I wouldn't want to drag you in anything that's dangerous; definitely not when you're with me."

With these words, Lucy couldn't help to feel dazed at all. It was like Gray is a knight... Her knight. Then, her trance was directly interrupted by no other than the person who was currently in her mind. 

"But, for now! We'll be having a winter camping, and when the fire's on, we are going to enjoy these..." The ice boy presented something to his blonde friend.

"Oh my, S'MORES!" The latter gave an animated cheer, her thoughts were temporarily diverted.

Two hours left before the Fireworks display would take place, Gray and Lucy had now been silently consuming their s'mores.  Lucy had been giggling from time to time like someone had been tickling her, and Gray would just completely stare at her in awe. Somehow, he could feel himself having a certain admiration for the young woman. As a matter of fact, he had already felt the same thing with her even before, and that was when she was first introduced by Natsu. Still, he decided to keep his mouth shut and his feelings kept inside a chest.

There was another silence in the atmosphere until Gray felt a tap on his shoulder, he noticed instantly that it was the girl who momentarily invaded his mind.

"Gray..." She spoke. Her voice is as soft as a lullaby. Then, in a matter of seconds, Lucy gave him a peck on his cheek.

"Thank you... I couldn't remember a time when I had so much fun like this  after the grand magic games, and so far, this was beyond my expectation." She uttered sincerely. Meanwhile, Gray was slightly in shock because of what Lucy did. Lucy noticed a tint of blush on his cheeks, and that made her giggle once again.

"Let's do this next time." She suggested eagerly.

"Making s'mores?" He raised his brows, as if in a curious way.

"Yes, making s'mores, and snow kayaking, ice blocking, sledding and whatever fun things to..." Gray instantaneously interrupted her with a quick and gentle pinch on her nose, then he kissed her forehead. It was a romantic scene to perceive, and this time, tables had been turned. It was Lucy's turn to blush, and she was at a loss for words.

"Winter camping... And yes, I'd be happy to experience more adventures the next time with you..." He gave her out a charming simper and gently held her chin as if to wake her up from her trance. However, in a short while, a loud cheer could be heard. The fireworks display had now started, and Lucy had finally recovered from her state of shock. There were no banging sounds, of course, however, the different colors and images that were generated above the night sky were already spectacular enough to look at. There were images of the 12 constellations which had blown them away, especially the celestial mage. 

Gray and Lucy were now staring at the pyrotechnics display that had totally stoked them.

As of the moment, Lucy laid her head to one of Gray's shoulders as they were sitting side by side. Both were in their euphoric bubble. 

As the lights, emitted by the fireworks had been reflecting against their faces, the two imagined that they were truly in a winter wonderland...

... Fin