Author's Note: Happy Late New Years Guys!

Well, my newest ongoing Fairy Tail fanfiction, Laytis, has been posted. Go check it out!

Anyway, I apologize for not posting another one-shot sooner. D: I've been so busy with other things lately. So, without further ado, I present the 8th shot in this series.

Stars

The night sky stretched above her head like a sheet of smooth velvet, broken only by the myriad of stars that dazzled as if they were diamonds in the sun's rays. The moon shone with all its radiance, casting a soft, pale light that filtered through the leaves of the tall fir trees of the northern forest. A soft layer of snow had settled over the ground, offering a cold, yet relatively comfortable place to make their camp.

She sat on a thick quit placed at the bottom of the tent, bundled in her coat, knees tucked to her chest as she gazed out the unzipped flap. Her body shook with cold as her breath escaped her pale lips in white puffs. Even so, a contented sigh pulled its self away form her lips.

Since the death of her mother, Lucy had always felt closer to the late Celestial Mage when gazed upon the stars. It was as if the sight of the brilliantly gleaming lights could wash away the loneliness that had filled her being. "How are you doing Mama?" She whispered.

A movement behind her startled her. Gray sat up, stretching his body. He had stripped himself of his clothes completely; the discarded articles littered the bottom of the tent. Almost if done on purpose, a small section of his blanket fell over the part of his anatomy she had seen once when she first joined the guild.

A shudder ran though her spine as the image presented itself.

"Lucy, what are you still doing up?" he asked with a yawn.

She kept her eyes glued to his face, fallen with sleep and exhaustion. The trip into the forest covered mountains was a long and hard one and Erza had driven them like slaves, refusing to let them stop until it was too dark to see.

"Nothing," she replied, pulling her jacket closer, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

He shook his head, "You can hear Ash Brain snoring a mile away."

A small chuckle slipped past her lips.

A strange feeling suddenly filled her. She hadn't noticed it at first, but in an effort to avoid looking anywhere but there, she found herself tracing the well defined outlines of his chest with her eyes. Maybe she had seen him shirtless so many times she hadn't noticed it before, but she found herself noticing things she wouldn't have normally: the scar at his hip, the insignia of Fairy Tail upon his chest, and the seemingly hardness of it all; it was as if he had been carved out of stone with deadly precision.

What are you thinking all of the sudden?! She asked herself and forcibly tore her eyes away from the man before her. You're just tied, she reasoned, too tired, thinking all of these nonsensical things…

"Are you alright?" He asked, the sleep still evident in his voice. But there was something else present, a tinge of worry.

"Yeah," she replied, almost a bit too quickly, "I was just cold."

Face growing redder by the second, the blonde turned back to the stars, her eyes swirling with longing. A shadow suddenly engulfed her as a thick, warm material fell over her. Moving frantically, she managed to pull it away from her, only to realize it was the blanket he had been sleeping with.

Her eye twitched at the thought of touching the same blanket he had be naked under, but the kiss of winter's chill quickly pushed that from her mind. Without protest, Lucy wrapped it around her body, feeling the warmth encase her almost immediately. There was a bit of rustling behind her, followed by the sound of a zipper.

At least he noticed this time…

"You sure?" He asked, taking a seat next to her.

The blonde turned to him, "Yeah. I'm just thinking."

"About?" The Ice Mage prodded.

A sigh escaped her lips, "My mother, my father, and everything that's happened so far. I can't believe it's been seven years already!"

A small chuckle rumbled in his throat. "I think everyone's still trying to grasp the fact."

"I still can't believe he's gone. I mean, I guess I managed to fix things after the incident in Acalypha. I don't know what hurts more; having my father think that his daughter was never coming back, only to die a month before she did, or losing him. That letter I found in the last gift he sent me…"

She took a deep breath, letting the words hang in the air. She hadn't really spoken to anyone about her feelings after receiving her father's last present; she may have only briefly mentioned its contents to Mira once or twice. The words had started spilling out, as if the barrier that held them in had crumbled.

It was so easy to talk to him, but she wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was the fact they had been through so much together, having been part of the same team since she first joined the guild. Or maybe she just needed to let the emotions she kept bottled up escape.

"At least you made up with him," he said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You should get some sleep. You'll feel better."

She smiled at him, her eyes shining. Surprising them both, she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before returning to her spot, still curled in the blanket.

Author's Note: Any of you ever gone back and read something you wrote like a 7871289372198312 months ago and asked yourself if you really wrote it? I did. I guess the other shots in this series weren't as bad as I originally thought. I laugh at my own humor! (How pathetic…)

By the way, the next thing I post will be the one-shot from when Gray won the poll. The comes my last winner Sting. Voting resumes in February!