Lucy's head, legs, arms, just everywhere throbbed in pain. Cuts and small bruises laid on all shown parts of her body. She looked up towards the ceiling and grinned. She didn't care about the cuts and bruises though she did feel a little sick in the stomach. She closed her eyes and replayed today's events in her head.

Natsu's grin as they ran to catch the train. Gray's easy smile as him and Lucy played various games to pass time while Erza slowly stroked Natsu's head because of his motion sickness. Happy and Carla arguing (mostly just Carla nagging). Wendy's support as they took down the dark mages and bandits. And all that to lead it up to Master's lecture on how NOT to wreck half the town in the process of doing a mission. All in all it was a good day. Lucy smiled. She could never get over her team, they were truly one in a million. Nothing could break her happy mood. Until the doorbell rang.

She stood up to her feet and paddled her way to the front door of her apartment. She guessed it was Erza with a job for the next day, she hoped so. With the last job and rent coming up, she needed the money, bad. But to her surprise, the person who was at her door at 10:34 pm was the last person she'd ever guess.

Laxus Dreyar.

"Laxus?" she pushed out in a fit of shock. Staring at the man, he grinned and nodded his head in a 'What's up' motion.

"Yo, Blondie, care if I come in?"

Lucy nodded strangely and fumbled with the door to finally get it open wide enough for Laxus's large body to pass through. "c-come in. make yourself at home" she was acting weird but it was a surprise to have Laxus of all people at her house at this time of night. Whatever it was that had Laxus here, it must have been important.

Laxus walked in and took a seat at her couch. Lucy walked behind him and sat in her chair across from her couch. "So what's up?" she asked. Laxus sighed and reach his hand into his pocket and fished out a small slip of paper and handed it her. She took it with raised eyebrows and scanned it before looking back up at him.

"Their holding a Mini Magic Games in Hargeon to crown the best team in Fiore" he told her basically making a summary of the flyer.

"Yeah ok read that" she said sitting back in her seat, somehow she felt like she was going to need to. Laxus frowned down at the floor before continuing.

"My team- they won't be able to make it. Freed is gone on a long mission and evergreen tagged along. Biskslow didn't think he would be good enough to join. Pops expects me to make a strong team of three to represent fairy tail, but without my team, I'm not really much of a team am i?"

Lucy watched him as he looked back up at her, locking eye contact. "Alright what does this have to do with me?" Laxus sighed and looked away.

"I decided to make a team with you and Gajeel." Lucy stared at him for a second before blinking a few times questioning herself if she heard that correct. Her, Lucy heartifllia, in a team with THE Laxus and Gajeel no way.

"Wait-wait wait-wait –wait!" Laxus froze "Me! Why me?"

"Look Lucy let's face it, your strong, and could possibly be stronger than me, someday, if you just had a small push. I need that in my team." Lucy sat wide eyed "want me to continue?"

"Yes please" Laxus laughed and did what he was told.

"I want to train you. I already talked about it with Gajeel and said the same. We'll train you Lucy and make sure you're the strong woman you dream of being. Think about it, you're already half way there. I know you want to be just as strong as your team mates and not to be protected all the time, am I right?" she nodded "Me and Gajeel can help you with that, trust me"

She did, she believed everything he was saying but it was happening all too sudden. She just got back from a mission for crying out loud!

She just looked at him for a minute. What are you supposed to say to something like that? "Laxus…." She started. He cut her off though.

"It's alright if you're not sure right now, I'll let you think about it a little. You think you'll have an answer by the morning?" Lucy wasn't sure about that, it was late and she normally jumped out of bed first thing in the morning and headed to the guild, not really a lot of time to think. But she nodded anyway. Laxus smiled, something that any girl would have fell for, and stood up.

"Good, hope you do have an answer in the morning. I really want to have you on my team, want to train you." Lucy bit the inside of her lip and walked him to the door. "Good night, rest up I bet that job was just as a hassle as I'm picturing it." He said turning to grin at her. Lucy knew he was referring to the one she finished to day. He must have heard Master's lecture.

As he started down the steps Lucy smiled. "Hey, Laxus!" she called after him. He turned and looked up her. "Thank you!" he grinned again and nodded before walking the rest of the stairs.

Lucy closed her door, locked up, and fell into the calling covers of her bed. Forget a bath and changing, she could do that in the morning, right now she just wanted to sleep.

Sleep sounded good.

Laxus shook his head down at the blonde mage in front of him. "No no No" he said. He grabbed her hand and put it the way he wanted. "There. Position your hand as if you were holding something"

"Yeah fine, like this" she fixed it again and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah just like that, alright Gajeel!" he called. Gajeel walked up and checked the tied the rope around her hips then stood back and nodded towards Laxus

"Alright, Lucy hold that stand as we pull the rope, it's gonna hurt so be prepared" she gave them on firm nod just before they began to pull the rope. It hurt, god it hurt but she held the position. She kind of looked like a statue standing like this with one hand out as if she was giving someone something, her other hand tucked in right under her breast, her legs spread apart with her left out and her right just a little back and she was sort of crouching. Her arm hurt from holding it out like that and her legs hurt from her upper body weight depending on her out stretched legs. Not to mention the rope pulling her towards both her left and her right.

Laxus had asked her to call out two sprits to help. So she called out loke and Aries. Loke paced around her watching her concentrate on not screwing up the position. "Lilly, Aries" he said "the arms" the two nodded and began to pull on the rope tied around her wrist. Lucy cried out and sucked in a breath as a drop of sweat fell down her forehead. She pulled herself, her hand forming into fist. She slammed her eyes shut and pulled with all her might on her wrists and hip to make sure she kept the position.

"That's right! Good Lucy! Just like that" Laxus called out to her as he pulled on his side of the rope. Gajeel grunted and pulled a little tighter just as Lilly and Aries pulled harder making Lucy gasp, trying to weigh out all the pressure on her wrists and hips. Loke walked around her again and began to draw energy into his fists. Lucy snapped her eyes open and pulled harder on her wrist but it wasn't working, she was getting weaker. It wasn't just because she was holding the stand for a long time, it was because loke was draining her magic by drawing it all to him, Aries did the same and Lucy felt weighed down.

"Oh god!" she gasped

"Lucy!" Gajeel called this time "focus on your magic! Your magic is your strength, use that to balance out the weight on your arms and legs." She tried, she really did, but it was all just too much.

"No!" she yelled "I can't- loke- Aries-"

"Lucy-san, I know you can just focus on your arms and legs" Lilly yelled pulling just a little tighter.

"Listen to what their saying princess, your magic is your only friend right now, depend on it!" loke said drawing more magic. Lucy cried out again. She slammed her eyes shut once more and imaged he magic was in a cup in her head. She was poured more into that cup, drawing magic she knew was there.

Loke could feel it, she was gain magic "that's right my princess, focus on your magic!" Lucy did and the more she did, the more she could pull her arms back into position.

"That's right, Lucy! Pull!" she grunted and pulled her arms back to their right spot before pulling harder. Laxus watched in amazement as her arms be can to glow a bright yellow before the rope broke and Lilly and Aries fell to the ground. Aries began to chant "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"

Gajeel grinned "alright, bunny girl!" he yelled. She gave a smirk just as the rope around her waist gave out and broke also and both Laxus and Gajeel fell to the ground.

Lucy stood there for a second before looking around at her friends on the ground. She laughed before reaching her hand out to help them up. They all shared a laugh just as…

Lucy woke up her arms sore and her legs stiff. She sat up in her bed and noticed the warm spot right beside her left leg. She threw her covers off of her and glared down at the body slumped up cuddling her side.

"Natsu!" she yelled. He snapped his eyes open and looked up at her.

"Oi! Lucy!" he said grinning "guess what! Happy kicked me out!" she sighed and shook her head.

"And I'm kicking you out" she mumbled. Natsu frowned then grabbed her chin to turn her face to his. She blushed and stared at her pink haired best friend.

"I- got-kicked-out" he said slowly. Lucy groaned loudly and face palmed into a pillow. "Oi Luce are you alright? Can I stay here?" she grumbled something into the pillow he couldn't understand. "What!? Lucy I can't understand you"

That's when a knock sounded at her door, so she got up walking towards the door then remembering she still had the same clothes she had on yesterday. She grumbled something else before grabbing some clothes out of her closet and walking towards the bathroom. "Natsu if you want to get on my good side this morning, then you better answer the door" she called behind her before slamming the bathroom door shut. Natsu stared at the door then scratched his head before getting up and answering the other one.

Gajeel stood in the door way his back against the railing on the stairs. He looked over at Natsu and raised an eyebrow. Natsu gave him a flat look (this -_-) before slamming the door back in Gajeel's face. "Oi Idiot Open the fucking door!" Gajeel yelled.

Natsu opened it just a little then asked. "Password"

Gajeel pushed it open making Natsu fall on his butt. "I'll give you a freaking password alright." He walked in and sat down on Lucy's couch. "Where's bunny?" he asked a scowl on his face.

Natsu stood up rubbing his butt out "ow, she went in the bathroom"

"I know I can smell fresh soap"

"THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU ASK!" Gajeel shrugged

"What are you doing here anyway flame princess?"

Natsu growled "just to get it straight Gray is the one that is a princess, got it. Anyway starting today I'm staying at Lucy's house for a while. Happy kicked me out, we had a pretty bad fight. Wait, I'm supposed to be asking you that!"

Gajeel chuckled and just waved him off just as Lucy stepped out of the bathroom. "Oh Gajeel, what are you doing here?" she asked walking their way.

"Laxus told me to come by and get an answer from you" Lucy sighed and shook her head. Somebody is eager huh? She fell into a chair and looked up towards him.

"To be honest Gajeel, I haven't really thought about it until just a few minutes ago in the shower." Gajeel nodded, understanding.

"Yeah he did come over late so I was told" Lucy nodded this time. Natsu just looked at the two of them in confusion.

"Laxus came by and you didn't tell me Luce? Wait what are you two talking about?" he asked looking at Gajeel then at Lucy.

Gajeel shrugged "you'll find out later" he told the other dragon slayer. Lucy stood up walked towards the door.

"I'm about to head to the guild, I'll have an answer by then" she said opening the door. Gajeel got up and followed after her, Natsu right on his heels.

By the time the three made it to the guild, Lucy didn't have an answer. As she walked through the doors, faces turned and greetings where called out to the three. Laxus looked in her direction and raised an eyebrow. After Lucy was done giving her own greetings, she walked his way.

"Yo, Blondie" he said. She smiled and sat in front of him.

"Hey Laxus" he put down his cup and gave her a questioning look. Lucy fell apart. There was no use in pretending she was angry at herself. She let out a loud sigh and face palmed into the table.

"I'm so sorry Laxus, I don't- I just- and then Natsu- I'm so sorry" Laxus sighed softly and smiled at her.

"Blondie, slow down. It's ok. I told you I didn't expect you to have an answer right off the bat. It's fine. The games are in seven months you still have some time to think about it."

Lucy frowned at him. It wasn't fine. She told him she would have an answer in the morning but she didn't. She shook her head. That wasn't fair. This man really wanted to train her and on top of all of that, was excited to considering the fact that he even sent Gajeel to come and get an answer from her. Laxus was really something. She wasn't just going to sit here and let him tell her it was fine, when clearly it wasn't. She sat up and looked him in the eye "Laxus do you really think that is enough time to teach me? To actually train me?"

Laxus gave her a look before turning away as if he was just thinking about that which, in fact, he was. He then grinned looking back her and said "Lucy seven months is more than enough for me and Gajeel to train you. Like I said, you're already half way there, you just need a push, someone to help guide you"

Lucy stared at him for a second. "Do you really believe that" she asked almost in a whisper but she knew he heard her due to the dragon slayer hearing. Laxus nodded and patted her shoulder, standing up.

"I more than just believe it, I trust in it, and know it's true" Lucy felt her heart do summersaults in her chest. To have Laxus out of all people stand right there and tell her he believes in her is like a child's mother telling them they could go into a toy store and pick anything they wanted because they were so well behaved. A mixture of proudness, ego boast, and excitement. "Lucy, I'm gonna go get some more beer, want something?" Laxus asked looking down at her as she drooled over being praised.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at him. "Oh yeah, um… a strawberry shake?" he nodded and walked off towards the bar. And then she smiled. Why was she thinking about it so much? The answer should have been clear to her. "Hey Laxus!" she called after him just like she did last night, and he turned around and looked at her with the same questioning look he had last night. "And a one way ticket to the Laxus team!" Laxus looked at her for a few seconds then grinned one of the biggest grins she had ever saw on his face, And it was because of her, Boom, there goes another ego boast!

The whole day Lucy smiled to herself and kicked her legs in her seat. She got questions all afternoon on what her and Laxus where talking about or why she came in today with Gajeel. She didn't go to answer them not once. She didn't feel like she had to answer them, probably from all that ego boosting.

Erza sat her table with a piece strawberry cake in her hand. She looked up at Lucy with a questioning look but Lucy didn't even notice she was too busy picturing herself as a stronger mage.

"Oh Lucy please help me!" she could hear Erza saying "oh please oh strong Lucy!"

"Lucy you're so beautiful and strong, please have my children" she could her gray proclaiming

"Hands off ice princess" Natsu would say "Lucy have my children instead! Together we can have very powerful dragon slayer babies!"

"You know what Natsu I'm about tired of you taking what's mine!"

"Yours! Whose partner was she first?"

"WH-what! That doesn't even matter! I claimed her first" then Gajeel would come in

"Sorry idiots, bunny's mine"

"Correction, Lucy belongs to me" Laxus would say

"No Lucy is mine!" Mira would yell over them.

And there Lucy would sit in the middle of them with her mouth in a 'O' form with her hands on her cheeks. Oh yeah!

Lucy sat there at the table picturing it all with an evil grin on her face laughing to herself. Erza decided to just keep eating her strawberry cake and look away.

Soon it was time for Lucy to leave. She stood up and yawned. Erza looked up and smiled. "Leaving so soon?" she asked

Lucy nodded "yeah I'm getting a little tired" she said. Erza nodded and waved as Lucy took off towards the main doors.

Laxus was standing there his arms crossed and looking down at her. "Leaving?" he asked

"Yeah"

"I'll walk you home" he turned to the doors holding it open for her. She smiled and walked out and into the streets of managolia.

Laxus walked beside her at a the pace she was walking at. She felt at ease with him and was all strange and acting weird like when they first had a full conversation. She even balanced herself on the edge of the river, something she only did with Natsu or by herself. Laxus looked up at her as if he was just waiting for her to fall so she could fall into his arms. Lucy had to admit, she would like that.

When they made it to her house Laxus watched her walk up the steps. She turned back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Not coming in?" Laxus walked up a few steps and shook his head.

"Nah, you go get some rest, training starts in the morning alright?" she nodded and smiled at him.

"Thank you Laxus, for wanting to train me and adding me to your team" Laxus smiled back and shook it off.

"It was no problem Lucy, now get your ass inside and get some sleep" she grinned and walked inside her apartment. Laxus stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

"What- Laxus-" he stopped her by placing his lips on her forehead. Her eyes widened. Did he just KISS her! Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss KISS! Laxus grinned and stepped back down a stair watching a now stuttering and red faced Lucy.

"Alright Blondie hurry and get your butt inside before I do something else" he said with an evil grin. Lucy made a small 'eek' sound and went inside.

Laxus stood there for a moment before turning around and walking down the rest of the steps. Until he heard a voice. "Laxus" it whispered "thank you" he grinned and continued on his way home.

The next morning Laxus woke up and started on his way towards Gajeel's house. Panther Lilly opened the door in his regular form. "Oh Laxus, nice to see you. Here for Gajeel?" in the background Laxus could Gajeel grumbling something.

"yeah tell him to get his ass out here so we can go get Lucy and train" Lilly nodded and opened the door wider for Laxus to come in. he did and stood by the door as Lilly walked over to Gajeel who was sitting in a chair at a table. Laxus decided to go ahead and walk over and take a seat with him.

Gajeel was looking at a few papers, glasses on his face. Black rimmed and light coming out of the lens. Speed reading glasses. He looked up at Laxus and took off the glasses.

"I didn't think you read." Laxus joked.

"I don't" Gajeel said handing him the papers. Laxus took them and scanned over the printed words. "Master gave them to me while you were out walking the bunny. Told me to go home and study over them. I was ordered to read." he said

Laxus grinned "so they gave us the layout of the whole thing huh?" he said a small chuckle in his voice.

"Yeah. They wanted to send it out after we send in the names of the teams. They even told us the other teams" Gajeel handed him another sheet of paper. Laxus scanned over that one too.

Sabertooth: Rogue, Yukino, and some woman named Maki and a second team: orga, Rufus, and Minerva

Blue Pegasus: Hibiki, Jenny, and Eve

Lamia scale: Sherry, Lyon, Jura

Mermaid heel: millianna, kagura, and a man named…. Death?

Sun side dream: nobody he knew Trance, Marabeth, and Drummond

And Mystic Pendulum: Larry, Kasen, and Kross. Same, nobody he knew.

Laxus handed them all back to Gajeel and frowned. "Some teams I don't even know" he said.

"Yeah" Gajeel said agreeing as he stood up and pushed his chair in. "anyway let's go get bunny and train. We'll tell her about it when we get there" Laxus frowned and thought about the last games the were in.

"No" Laxus said staring down at the floor with narrowed eyes. He remembered the names on that list, one name on that list. "She'll find out later" Gajeel looked down at him with a raised eyebrow, but didn't argue.

"Laxus, Gajeel ready to train!" Laxus smiled and Gajeel made a small "Gihi" Lucy stood in front of them in the door way of her apartment dressed and ready to go. She had on running shoes and yoga pants with a tank top. Her hair was split into two pigtails. So she was ready.

"Alright if you're ready let's go" Gajeel said grabbing her wrist and pulling her out the door. She looked over at Laxus and locked eye contact with him, immediately blushing. He just grinned and pushed her forward.

Laxus led them over to the guild and went inside. Gajeel and Lucy looked at each other and shrugged following him. Mira was there setting up for the day. When she saw them she smiled and handed Laxus three bottles of some kind of energy drink. "About to go train?" she asked

Laxus nodded and thanked her. She looked over at Lucy and Gajeel giving them a smile of encouragement "good luck!" she said. Lucy and Gajeel smiled back before Laxus yelled at them to hurry up.

Laxus walked out the back entrance, Lucy and Gajeel right at his heels. He walked into the training area and set down the bottles and stood in front of the two. "Alright Lucy, Gajeel. Starting today were gonna be training hard not only for ourselves but also to help Lucy become stronger too" the two nodded and Laxus continued. "How about we start with simple battle poses?" Laxus began with what looked like a simple pose. he kind of looked like a statue standing like that with one hand out as if he was giving someone something, his other hand tucked in right under his chest, his legs spread apart with his left out and his right just a little back and he was sort of crouching.

… "WAAAAAA!" Lucy said pointing at Laxus in amazement "NO WAY!" Laxus looked at her with wide eyes, the look was priceless. If Lucy wasn't in a state of shock. "Dream stiller!"

Gajeel just laughed his ass off.

And that my dear readers is the end of chapter one! Hoped you loved it! If anybody have any questions or something like that just pm me or ask in the reviews.

And as all ways thanks for reading

Sorry it was so long -_-