The Reception; Part 2: The First Dance

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

September 17, x785.

In the front yard of the new mansion floating atop Lake Sciliora, the people gathered for Alfonzo and Elicia's wedding had finished their meal about fifteen minutes ago. Now, they were all mingling with other guests, drinking, and having a good time.

However, there were many people who were curious why a dance floor had been created, despite the fact that there was no music playing. At first, they were even confused as to why there was no band to provide the music. However, after remembering the Bridal March that played during the ceremony, they quickly dismissed those thoughts.

A few moments later, Alfonzo stood from his seat at the main table. Then, after smiling lovingly at Elicia, he started walking towards the dance floor.

"I can't wait 'til it's my turn to get married." Sun said with a smile. "Alfonzo and Lici look so happy today."

"Yeah, plus have you seen the way Fonzie is smiling?" Marin added. "It's making my heart skip a beat every time I see it."

In response, Elicia, Cana, Sun, and even Laki nodded in response.

"Still haven't given up on him, huh?" Cana asked after noticing Laki's nod.

In response, Laki shook her head gently.

"It's not that I haven't given up on him, but I know it's not possible." Laki replied, though she still smiled gently. "I'm not willing to share him. So, there's nothing I can do about it. But seeing him happy makes me happy all the same."

Hearing that, most of the people at the table smiled gently at Laki. The exception being Laxus. Despite that, he was not in opposition to Laki's statement.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo had reached the center of the dance floor, drawing the attention of everyone present.

"Alright." Alfonzo said, focusing all eyes on himself. "I really wanna thank everyone for coming and celebrating the day with me and Lici. But I think it's time to start the party for real."

As he finished speaking, Alfonzo turned back to the main table. Then, he extended his left hand towards Elicia.

"Lici, would you do me the honor of having our first dance as husband and wife?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.

Smiling back in return, Elicia stood up before walking around the table and making her way to the dance floor.

Meanwhile, many of the people gathered were confused. There was no music playing, after all. At the same time, Vijeeter, a Fairy Tail wizard who used [Dancer Magic] was the most excited. But before he could rush onto the dance floor, a glare from Ur stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Just what did you do to that boy, Ur?" Makarov asked curiously. "For as long as I can remember, getting him to stop dancing has been nearly impossible."

"Nothing really." Ur replied casually after taking a sip of her wine. "The two of us just had a long talk about when it was appropriate to dance."

After hearing Ur's tone and seeing the fear on Vijeeter's face, those sitting at the table with Ur, namely Makarov, Gildarts, Bob, Goldmine, Ooba, Jura, and Lyon, decided it would be better for their mental health if they did not know how that conversation went.

At about the same time, Elicia reached the dance floor. Then, only a moment later, she arrived in front of Alfonzo and gently grasped his left hand with her right. And as soon as their hands were connected, music began playing throughout the area.

{BGM: Jesse Powell – "You"}

Then, Alfonzo pulled Elicia close as wind chimes and a flute played the intro to the song. A few beats later, a violin took over. Yet another moment later, a piano melody began to play.

"You~~~~~~~~~~." Alfonzo sang in tune with the music.

Hearing that, Elicia opened her eyes wide in surprise.

At the same time, all the others in attendance wore surprised expressions, as well. No one had ever heard Alfonzo sing before, after all.

Shortly after Alfonzo stopped holding his note, the beat dropped. Then, Alfonzo began singing the lyrics to the song as he began dancing gracefully with Elicia in his arms.

"I finally found the nerve to say~~… I'm gonna make a change in my life, starting here today~~." Alfonzo sang with mellow, tenor vocals. "I surrender all my love, I never thought I could~~. I'm giving all my love away and there's only one reason that I would~~~~… And baby it's you~~~~~."

By that point, Alfonzo was smiling lovingly as he sang and danced with Elicia under the stunned gazes of all the guests. Meanwhile, with a bright smile on her face, Elicia allowed herself to be led as tears of joy flowed down her face.

'He remembered!' Elicia thought to herself excitedly. 'This was supposed to be the first song we danced to when we got married in our past life. But since Jesse Powell doesn't exist here, I had given up on that. But somehow, Fonzie made it come true, anyway.'

Though it was not mentioned, during the two months leading up to the wedding, Alfonzo had put a lot of effort into making today as close to perfect as could be. So, he spent around a week of his free time creating a magic item for making and recording music. Then, he spent another three weeks recording the sounds of as many instruments as he could get his hands on to make it worthwhile.

After that, he spent Nearly another month recreating the instrumentals to as many Hip-Hop, R&B, Pop, Rock, and any other genre that had songs that he liked just for the reception. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to hire people to sing the songs, though. Still, he figured all that would be enough.

Eventually, the song reached the break and a saxophone solo played.

"Any other couples are welcome to join us." Alfonzo said with a smile, snapping the audience out of their trances.

Immediately, several couples, Gozaburo and Ren, Maes and Gracia, Ren of the Trimens and Sherry of Lamia Scale, and Edward and Winry, quickly joined Alfonzo and Elicia on the dance floor. Even Alzack, with a completely red face, after deciding that Alfonzo was right, shyly asked Bisca to join him on the dance floor, too.

Then, just as the last of the couples reached the dance floor, Alfonzo began singing again. And this time, it seemed like he was just adlibbing. Performing runs while staring into Elicia's eyes.

Then, after another minute, the music began to fade, and Alfonzo's vocals became softer as they did so.

"I just wanna be yours~~~ From this day forth~~~." Alfonzo sang softly as the music completely faded.

Immediately after Alfonzo's final note ended, Elicia kissed him passionately. At the same time, the entire crowd broke into thunderous applause.

"Damn, is there anything that kid can't do?" Ur asked in a tone filled with shock and amazement.

"Yeah, it's been thirteen… No, fourteen years since we brought him back from Hargeon." Makarov added in the same tone. "And I don't think I've ever heard him sing… Or do anything musical, really."

"Miss Lucy! Miss Lucy!" Lyra, one of Lucy's Silver Celestial Spirits, who had, at some point, summoned herself next to Lucy, shouted excitedly once the song ended. "Do you think Mr. Alfonzo would teach me that song? It was so beautiful."

"Huh?" Lucy exclaimed in surprise, Lyra's presence pulling her out of her love-struck state. "Lyra, when did you get here?"

"Shortly after he started singing." Lyra replied excitedly. "But do you think he would teach me that song if I asked?"

"He probably would." Lucy replied with a smile after getting past her confusion at Lyra's appearance. "Well, unless he plans to make money off of it. Then, I'm not sure."

Like Lucy, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, and Sun were also looking at Alfonzo with hearts in their eyes. Then, when they eventually returned to their senses, they, along with Lucy, exchanged glances. Very competitive glances as they all thought the same thing.

'I'm definitely gonna be the next one to marry him.' All seven of Alfonzo's other girls thought simultaneously.

Eventually, Elicia, with the widest smile of the day on her face, ended her kiss with Alfonzo. Then, they finally registered the sound of the applause. A moment later, they could hear the sound of footsteps rushing towards them.

Looking around, Alfonzo and Elicia eventually found the source of the footsteps. And to their surprise, it was the little Elicia running at Alfonzo with her arms opened wide.

With a smile, Alfonzo knelt down and scooped the little girl up in his arms as she drew near.

"Hey, Elicia, what's got you so excited?" Alfonzo asked curiously.

"You sing so pretty, Alfonzo!" The little Elicia shouted excitedly. "Can you teach me how to sing, too?"

Hearing that, Alfonzo smiled wryly. In fact, in his past life, he had never been trained to sing. Needless to say, that had not changed in this life, either. He just happened to have a good ear for music. Something that improved after he had his accident in his past life. So, he had no idea how to teach someone how to sing.

Noticing that Alfonzo was at a loss, Elicia stepped in, pinching the little Elicia on her right cheek.

"Fonzie really isn't a good teacher when it comes to this kind of thing, Elicia." Elicia said with a smile. Then, she pointed towards Lucy, more specifically at Lyra. "But one of Lucy's spirits, Lyra is a good teacher. She might be willing to teach you if you ask nicely."

At first, when little Elicia heard that Alfonzo was not a good teacher, she deflated. However, when she heard the rest of Elicia's words, her eyes began to sparkle once again. Then, she looked at Lyra before excitedly jumping out of Alfonzo's arms and rushing towards the Celestial Spirit.

By that time, all the cheering had died down, accompanied by Maes yelping in pain after Gracia pulled his ear, no doubt because he was about to do something stupid after seeing Alfonzo holding his daughter in his arms.

Then, Alfonzo slowly made a turn, looking at all those present with a smile.

"Alright, now that the first dance is out of the way, we have one more thing to do before we can really get this party started." Alfonzo said with a smile.

In the next instant, Alfonzo held his arm out towards the main table. A moment later, a thin metal band appeared around Elicia's bouquet. Then, it slowly floated towards Alfonzo's outstretched hand.

At the same time, many of the single ladies in the crowd's eyes sharpened while a dangerous atmosphere began to permeate the area.

'Man, I've seen this part of a reception get pretty intense in my past life.' Alfonzo thought as he felt the change in atmosphere. 'I can only imagine what it will be like with all these superpowered women vying for the bouquet.'

That's right, the part of the reception Alfonzo was referring to was the bride throwing the bouquet. And as he was expecting things to get out of hand, once the bouquet was in Elicia's hands, Alfonzo led her to another part of the yard. He didn't want the place where they would party the rest of the day and the night away to be ruined, after all.

At the same time, the guests followed, interested to see who would end up with the bouquet in the end. Especially with so many powerful women vying for it.

Eventually, the crowd arrived on the other side of the front yard, the part of the yard on the other side of the driveway. Then, all the single women interested in being the next to get married stood in front of Alfonzo and Elicia while the spectators stood behind them to watch the show.

'Let's see.' Elicia thought to herself as she looked over all the gathered single ladies. 'Cana, Tear, and the others are there, just like I expected. So are Laki, Levy, Bisca, Lisanna, Meredy, and Ever. Oh, I wasn't expecting to see Ur in there. I guess she's starting to get lonely. Gildarts is a lucky guy… I think. Yup, Winry is there, too. I feel like she's at a severe disadvantage, though, considering she's not a wizard. Hmm… I expected to see Sherry in there, too. Well, she's always been all about "love." Sorano's there, too. Surprisingly, so is Karen. Wait, is that Tsunade? Shizune, too? Oh, and it looks like Anko is in there to have fun, too…'

"Alright, I'm gonna lay down some ground rules." Alfonzo said while Elicia was thinking. "First, I'll be putting up a barrier to keep you all from destroying my new house."

Hearing that, everyone nodded in understanding.

"Second, the use of magic power is allowed." Alfonzo added. "As for those of you who can't do that, you can only blame yourselves for entering an arena full of wizards. Third, the use of offensive spells is allowed, too. However, they can only be used to distract. If I see anyone attacking anyone else directly, I'll pull you out faster than you can react. Got it?"

In response, all the ladies competing for the bouquet nodded solemnly.

"Good." Alfonzo said with a smile. Then, he turned towards Elicia. "You ready, Lici?"

"Not yet." Elicia replied with a smile. A moment later, however, her smile was completely wiped off her face. Then, strong pressure fell on all the competitors. "Almost all of you are wearing dresses I created for today by request. So, you'd better be careful. Because I'm sure you all know how I feel about seeing my creations damaged, right?"

With that, all the ladies wearing dresses Elicia created shivered involuntarily, especially Ur and Karen.

"And if anyone not wearing one of my dresses thinks trying to damage one of them to gain an advantage is a good idea, you can ask Sorano, Gray, and Meredy how that went for them." Elicia said as a sinister smile sprouted on her face.

At the same time, Gray, Sorano, and Meredy shuddered in fear.

"Alright, that's all I have to say." Elicia said, her smile turning bright and cheerful in an instant. "Now, let's do this. Good luck, everyone!"