Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, and I never will. Hiro Mashima does and is a much better writer than I !

This is my first Fairy Tail story! I'm not used to writing but I had this awesome idea and ran with it!

I am planning on making a series of one-shots as well so if anyone has any ideas, just let me know!

The Bond

Chapter 1: The Plan

It was a normal Tuesday in Fairy Tail. Erza and Gray were off on a mission with Juvia and Wendy. The exceeds save for Lily went with them. Gajeel was eating a few pieces of silverware in a corner by himself. Team ShadowGear were looking over requests, well, Levy was anyway, Jet and Droy were just gazing at Levy adoringly. Mirajane was gossiping with Cana and occasionally glancing over at Natsu and Lucy.

Natsu and Lucy weren't paying attention to anyone but the other as they talked in hushed voices. Mirajane kept trying to inch closer unsuspectingly so she could hear the conversation.

"No, Natsu! We can't do that. People would get suspicious." Lucy exclaimed quietly, shaking her head.

"C'mon Lucy! You need rent money and there is so much I can destroy without getting into trouble and losing the reward." Natsu replied back, just as quietly.

"Burning down a forest for a mission just seems a bit dangerous to me. You could go overboard and destroy he whole village...again." Lucy mumbled.

"That was one time, Lucy! One time. Ever since then you keep thinking I'll destroy another village. If you ask me, they had it coming anyway." Natsu said with a pout.

"That is beside the point. You can't keep destroying things just because you want to. It looks bad for Fairy Tail and we don't get paid. What would happen if I lost my apartment because I didn't have the rent money? Where would I live?" Lucy responded furiously.

"You could live with me and Happy! You know you are always welcome there as long as you don't clean it up too much." Natsu said obviously.

"Thanks, Natsu, but I need a place of my own as well. Wouldn't it be suspicious if I suddenly started living with you? People would think there was something going on!" Lucy said, laughing a bit. She missed the slightly put out look that crossed Natsu's face briefly. The look wasn't missed by Mirajane though.

Mirajane glanced around and spotted Gajeel by himself a small smirk on his face as he listened into the 'pink haired idiot' and 'Bunny-girl's' conversation. Mirajane grinned evilly and swayed over to him and sat down next to him, mirroring his smirk.

"What are they talking about?" She whispered conspiratorially.

Gajeel glanced over at Mirajane and grunted as a response.

"Tell me, Gajeel? Is it a lover's quarrel?" She asked with hearts in her eyes.

Gajeel just grunted again and looked back over to the odd couple.

"I'll make you anything you want to eat if you tell me!" Mirajane bribed him.

Gajeel once again glanced at Mirajane, the demon barmaid, before muttering a short reply, "Anything?"

Mirajane just smirked and nodded her head.

"Make me one of your famous cakes with iron in it. I'll explain the situation while I eat it." Gajeel said sulkily.

Mirajane just beamed at him and ran off to make him the cake.

When she returned, Lucy and Natsu had already left the guild. She set the cake down and looked at Gajeel expectantly.

"Fine, those two idiots are arguing about a mission they went on where Bunny Girl lost all the reward because Natsu burned the forest as part of the mission and added to it by burning the village down as well. Bunny Girl then said that she needs her rent and what would happen if she lost her apartment. The flaming idiot said she could live with him and Happy. She said it would look suspicious if she suddenly started living with him. That's when you came over. The idiot looked depressed for a few minutes while then Bunny Girl spotted a mission that seemed perfect for her and left. The idiot followed her like a lost puppy then you came back out." While Gajeel was explaining what had happened he was digging into his cake and spitting little pieces of iron everywhere.

During the explanation Mirajane's face went from happy, to ecstatic, to amused, to depressed, to murderous. Gajeel started to inch away from her as she let off waves of killer intent. "How stupid can those two be? Are they really that oblivious? How can anyone be that oblivious? It's so obvious they like each other!" While Mirajane was in the middle of her rant, Gajeel snuck away from her and ran out of the guild.

The next day found Mirajane and Cana sitting at the bar plotting a way to get the most oblivious couple together. Lucy was off on a mission and Natsu had followed her even after she told him not to. Gray, Erza, Juvia, and Wendy were set to arrive within the next few hours and Mirajane was going to get them to help her. An evil grin spread over her face as she plotted their relationship. She wasn't known as the demon matchmaker for nothing.

"What a boring mission!" Gray, shirtless of course, exclaimed as he walked into the guild. "Why's it so quiet here?"

"Juvia thinks is awfully quiet as well." Juvia muttered quietly.

"The flaming idiot isn't here. That must be why. Speaking of, Mira, where are the idiot and Lucy?"

Mirajane flounced over to Gray and Juvia and grabbed their arms, dragging them to the bar. "Oh those to went off on a mission alone. Well, Lucy went on the mission and Natsu followed like a lost puppy."

Gray raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? How pathetic!" Gray said, smirking.

"I need all of our help though." Mirajane said as she looked over at Erza and Wendy. "Erza! Wendy! Can you two come over here? I need to talk to you all. You can bring Happy and Charle as well."

Wendy, Erza, and the exceeds walked over to Mirajane with raised eyebrows.

"Now that you are all here. I need your help hooking up our most oblivious couple." Mirajane said sweetly. She explained the conversation Gajeel had overheard.

"You want us to help you matchmake?" Gray said with a slight sneer.

"I need all of your help. We need to get them to admit to each other how they feel. Lucy should be easy to convince, but Natsu will be a bit more trouble." Mirajane said happily.

"They liiiiiike each other." Happy drawled in his squeaky voice.

"So how do you plan to do that, Mirajane?" Erza asked seriously.

"We could lock them in a closet!" Wendy said cheerfully. "I've heard of people doing that before."

"No, too cliché." Gray replied. "I suppose we could drug them or get them drunk."

"We are not drugging anyone." Erza said with fire in her eyes. Gray gulped and his behind Juvia.

"Juvia thinks we should handcuff them." Juvia put in. "Lucy said she didn't want to live with Natsu but if they are handcuffed they have to spend time together. You can just say you lost the key. You could probably even make them fire proof..." Juvia explained to the others.

Everyone but Erza nodded at the idea. "I don't like it. It seems cruel to me." Erza said.

"Think of it this way, Erza. If they are together, he won't be bugging us as much. He'd be too busy with Lucy." Gray reasoned with her.

Erza thought about it a bit and nodded once. "Very well. How will we get the handcuffs on them though?"

"I could make it part of a team trust exercise. The whole guild could participate. That would make it less suspicious because everyone else is doing it too. We'll just...misplace their key is all." Wendy supplied with a smile.

"That could work." Mirajane murmured to herself. "I'll need to talk to Master about this but it shouldn't be a problem. We'll make it in a few weeks once Lucy and Natsu get back. Until then, we have preparations to make! Oh and don't tell anyone the actual plan!" Mirajane giggled gleefully and pranced away to find the Master.

Gray, Erza, Juvia, and Wendy all exchanged glances. What did they just get into?

A/N: Sorry it was so short...I'll try to make the next few chapters longer. I'm thinking of making this about 5 or 6 chapters long unless I get sudden inspiration..*wink wink nudge nudge*