Chapter One
I DON'T OWN NO FAIRY TAIL
"Lucy – Job!" Natsu's voice called from the windowsill.
Lucy slammed her journal shut and turned, red-faced, to see a grinning Natsu waving a paper triumphantly above his head. He hopped into the room and strode over to her confidently, Happy trailing along behind him.
"Wha…another one?" Lucy asked weakly, feeling her sore muscles protest. "Natsu, we just got back from one this morning!"
"Exactly!" Natsu said cheerfully, shaking the paper in her face. "And this one's even harder than the last. It'll be great – c'mon, get your stuff, we're going."
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up from the desk, pushing her hastily towards her bedroom.
"Hey!" she protested, twirling out of his grasp. "Just wait a minute! Aren't you guys tired from all we did yesterday?"
"Lucy, if you think battling one puny herd of leviathan is hard work, then you obviously don't have what it takes to be S-Class."
Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but halted as it dawned on her that this was the reason for Natsu's newfound hyperactivity for the past month and a half.
"Oh, that's right," she said, more to herself than to the dragon slayer beside her. "The S-Class trials are in two weeks!"
"I know!" Natsu said impatiently. "That's why we have to go, Lucy. I snatched this job from right under Gajeel's nose, and I won't let such a great opportunity to prove ourselves go to waste. If we can defeat a band of shadow demons from another dimension, I'd say we're qualified to compete!"
Lucy looked at him, wide eyed. "Natsu…do you mean to say…you think I could make it into the ranks?"
He grinned back at her. "Well, duh! Why do you think I've been dragging you along everywhere?"
Touched, Lucy embraced him quickly, and rushed to go get ready.
...
"What're you guys looking at?" Levy quipped, startling Jet and Droy immensely.
"The master just posted this up on the notifications section," Droy said, gesturing towards a large announcement titled: ATTENTION – REGARDING THE S-CLASS TRIALS.
"What's it say?" Levy asked curiously, struggling to see over Jet's tall frame.
"Apparently we're being permitted to submit nominations for the candidates this year," Jet answered, peering more closely at the poster. "It says here that we're supposed to turn in our selections to one of the existing S-Class mages in person, from 4 – 6pm tomorrow, in Makarov's office."
Levy raised an eyebrow. "Nominations? Well, that's never been done before. Why in person, though?"
"Probably to make sure that we don't vote for ourselves," said Droy, pointing out the paragraph forbidding self-nominations. "And that we only vote one time each."
"Ah," Levy sighed, feeling her heart sink. "I suppose that's only fair, then. Well, who are you guys going to vote for, if not yourselves?"
Jet and Droy exchanged glances, and Levy felt a sudden sense of foreboding as they closed in on her.
"You, of course!" they exclaimed simultaneously. "You deserve it more than anyone!"
She flushed. "Oh, come on, you're just saying that."
"Are you kidding, Levy?" Jet said in disbelief. "After that episode with the enchanted library that sucked the entire guild into a different story, nobody would doubt that you deserve to be S-Class."
"Yeah, and remember that time when you single-handedly saved Team Natsu from that storybook curse by decoding the cipher and breaking the spell?" Droy added. "You definitely have the mind of an S-Class mage, Levy."
Levy felt her face getting warm, and turned around bashfully. "Aw, you guys," she said, trying to hold back the grateful tears that were beginning to well up in her eyes. "I really couldn't have done any of it without you, you know."
Shadow Gear shared a warm smile, and had themselves an epic group hug.
...
Lisanna noticed the petit figure sitting alone at a table by the window, staring passively at the floor. She looked around for Mira Jane, remembering her sister's knack for making people feel at home, but the barmaid was nowhere in sight. Chewing her lip thoughtfully, she poured two glasses full of lemonade and walked over to the lone mage.
"Hi, Yukino," she greeted cheerfully. The addressed looked up in surprise to see Lisanna standing there with a bright smile.
"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, and Yukino shook her head silently, gesturing for her to take the seat opposite her. "I don't think we've been introduced yet. Silly, isn't it? Seeing as you've been here for several months now. I'm Lisanna."
The ghost of a smile passed across Yukino's lips. "Yukino. It's nice to meet you."
"So you're a Celestial Wizard, like Lucy then?" Lisanna asked, noticing the Zodiac keys she sported.
"Yes," Yukino answered. "But I'm afraid I don't have nearly as many powers as Lucy does. I owe a lot to her and Natsu, you know."
"Natsu?" Lisanna repeated. "Oh, I remember – he stormed the Sabertooth guild after they excommunicated you, right?"
Yukino hesitated for a moment, and Lisanna was afraid that she had touched a nerve, but the other girl smiled a bit more widely this time and nodded her head.
"Yes. I was very touched by his gallantry. And when he and Lucy offered to let me join Fairy Tail, I just couldn't refuse. It's hard to say no to somebody like Natsu."
They shared a giggle, and Lisanna felt herself warming up to the gentle mage. Yukino caught her eye for a moment, and then looked down at the table again, tracing circular patterns on the wood with her index finger. "Are…" she started, avoiding Lisanna's gaze. "Are Natsu and Lucy…are they…well, you know."
Lisanna took in her pink-tinged cheeks and tensed muscles, and realized she knew exactly what she meant. "Oh. Well, in all honestly, yes. Even if they can't see it, everyone else can."
Yukino let out a tiny sigh, and shrugged her shoulders. "They're very well suited for each other, I think. Lucy's lucky to have someone like him always there."
"I know," Lisanna sighed in agreement. "Even I think so too."
They shared a smile, and Lisanna decided to switch topics.
"So, did you read the poster about the S-Class trial?" she asked curiously.
Yukino nodded. "I think I'll vote for Natsu. He deserves it the most."
Lisanna laughed. "I won't argue with that. But as for me…well, I don't know who to vote for. Everyone's so deserving. There's Cana, who has never wanted anything more dearly in her whole life. And then there's my brother Elfman who has been working so hard just to be S-Class worthy. I can think of a lot of other people who deserve it so much…it's very conflicting."
Yukino nodded understandingly. "I hope you get chosen, Lisanna. I think you deserve to be up there with your brother and sister."
Lisanna smiled happily. "I hope you get chosen too, Yukino!"
...
Erza pressed her ear against the door, listening to the loud buzz of activity filtering in from outside Makarov's office. She exchanged glances with Mira Jane, Gildarts, and Laxus, all of whom were looking slightly wary at the thought of having to accept and file all the S-Class submissions within the next two hours. Grimacing, she looked over at Makarov, who was watching the clock.
"And in ten," he muttered, cuing everyone to take their places at the desks. "Nine, eight, seven,"
"Six, five four," chorused Mira, Laxus, and Erza.
"Three, two one," finished Gildarts, and Makarov promptly pulled the door open.
Before things could get out of hand, Erza stood and screamed at the top of for her lungs for everyone to form an orderly line in front of the desk of their choosing so as to get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible, thank you for your cooperation. Everyone did just that, though it was Natsu who burst in first, grinning like mad, and running over to Gildarts in a rush.
"If I get in, I'll beat you for real this time," he assured the older man.
Gildarts checked the slip of paper Natsu had handed him and let out a booming laugh. "Aw, that's adorable, kid. Oh, if you were found out…"
"Shut up, old man," Natsu said, flushing. "You'd better not tell anyone else!"
Next in line was Happy, of course. He timidly dropped his slip of paper into Gildarts' palm and flew away before he could open it. Gildarts peeked inside and smiled, not surprised at all, and dropped his vote into the box before him.
Over on the far side of the room, Erza was busy handling Gray.
"The rules clearly stated that you're not allowed to vote for yourself, moron!" she said loudly, pounding her fist on the table and waving his slip of paper in his face.
"Your rules are stupid," he growled, trying to force her hand to drop his vote in the box. "I should be able to vote for myself if I wanna!"
Erza gave him a very convincing glare, and said in a low voice, "You're holding up the line."
Grey gulped, and used her pen to change the name on the ballot, then handed it to her and walked away. She peeked at it and allowed a small smile to tug at her lips, then deposited it into the box.
Next behind gray was none other than Gajeel Redfox, who was determinedly avoiding looking Erza in the eye. She held out her hand and he reluctantly dropped his vote into it, crossing his arms and waiting for her to clear it. Erza laughed out loud when she saw his nomination.
"I would have thought you'd want her for a partner again this year," she said quietly, so that only Gajeel could hear.
He let out a splutter. "I – wha – we can have partners again this year?"
Erza nodded solemnly. Gajeel stalked off looking quite dejected.
Over towards the middle of the room, Laxus was currently reading Lucy's vote out lout to Mira Jane, who was sitting next to him.
The Celestial Spirit mage was blushing furiously. "Mira! There should be some rule against this, shouldn't there?" she asked weakly, as Laxus continued to laugh loudly over her submission.
"Stop teasing her Laxus, I think it's sweet," she said mildly, not entirely opposed to the knowledge of Lucy's vote.
Laxus dropped it in the box, chortling. "NEXT!" he bellowed.
On his right, Mira Jane was trying her best to suppress her delight at Wendy's vote. "I think you made an excellent choice," she told the younger girl, trying her best not to laugh. "Who knows, maybe you'll get his vote too!"
Wendy flushed and walked away quickly, leaving Juvia to eagerly deposit her ballot in the box and skip away merrily.
Laxus gave Mira Jane a look. "Ain't you gonna check her vote?" he grunted.
"Is there really a need?" Mira shot back.
...
"Right," said Erza, dropping the last of her ballots onto the table. "Everyone have their final count?"
"Finished," called Gildarts, quickly jotting something down on his tally sheet.
"Me too," said Laxus, putting his pen down. "Are you guys ready to count them up?"
"Okay," said Makarov. "Everyone tell me the total for Natsu Dragneel."
Several hours passed before the S-Class council came to a consensus. There were several ties in which they had to debate on who was more worthy on participating in the trial, lots of long-winded arguments about the accuracy of the vote counts, and many instances of recounts, but they finally narrowed the final candidates down to eight participants:
S-Class X791 nominees:
Natsu Dragneel – 18 votes
Gray Fullbuster – 18 votes
Gajeel Redfox – 17 votes
Cana Alberona – 16 votes
Yukino Aguria – 14 votes
Elfman Strauss – 12 votes
Levy McGarden – 10 votes
Wendy Marvell – 9 votes
"I still think we shoulda put in Juvia instead of Levy," grumbled Laxus, throwing resentful glare at Levy's name on the final tally.
"No," Erza said forcefully, rounding on him. "You know how crazy she gets around Gray, and she doesn't even seem to want to be S-Class as much as Levy does. Plus," she added with a wicked grin. "If Gray chooses her as a partner this time around, maybe what we've all been waiting for will finally happen…"
She and Mira Jane exchanged looks while the rest of the mages all groaned.
...
A/N: Yay! S-Class tests! Woo!
I tried to pick as many different candidates from the last test as possible, but it was hard, seeing as all those people are the guild's most powerful. Oh, well. I added Yukino because it made sense to me that she'd join Fairy Tail after the whole Grand Magic games thing, and I put Wendy in the test because she's been doing very well as of late, despite being so young. I included Levy also to give Gajeel some grief (gihi!) and because she's mentally S-Class level, and left out Juvia for the reasons Erza stated. Y'all can still flame me, but that's why I chose everyone ^^
If you want to know who everyone voted for, here it is (this isn't everyone, seeing as I pictured the guild to hold over 100 people, but just the main people):
Natsu – Lucy
Lucy – Natsu
Happy - Gajeel
Gray – Natsu
Juvia – Gray
Gajeel – Levy
Pantherlily - Gajeel
Cana - Juvia
Levy – Gajeel
Erza – Gajeel
Elfman - Evergreen
Mira Jane – Yukino
Lisanna – Elfman
Gildarts – Cana
Laxus – Yukino
Yukino – Natsu
Jet – Levy
Droy – Levy
Makarov – Natsu
Wendy – Gray
Carla – Wendy
Freed – Levy
Evergreen – Elfman
Bixlow – Gray
Romeo – Natsu
Makao – Cana
Laki – Yukino
Bisca – Lucy
Alzack – Natsu
Wakaba – Wendy
Max – Lucy
Reedus – Gray
Warren – Gajeel
And yeah, that's it! Be on the watch for more! ;)