Author's notes: So I decided to make a two-shot for the upcoming chapter "The Great Dance Tournament". This is just my take on what might happen. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is owned by Mashima and I have no intentions of profiteering from a man who can churn out 6 manga chapters non-stop for two weeks straight.

The Dragons' Ball Dance

Chapter 1

The guild was bustling with merriness as usual, but this time was a bit more raucous than usual, for Fairy Tail had finally regained the title as the strongest guild in Fiore once again. And if that didn't top all, they had also managed to gain victory over the invading dragons a week ago with the help of the other guilds. Thanks to their participation in the invasion, Master Makarov also managed to pull a few strings with the king, especially with how Fairy Tail contributed the most number of dragon slayers in the battle. Even though everyone saw how obvious Makarov was; Makarov simply played dumb whenever anybody asked if he had cashed in favors with the king. Makarov was too obvious, how else could Fairy Tail have gotten their old building back for free and got their debt to Ryuzetsu Land slashed in half?

Amidst all the bustling noise, Lucy was simply staring into her drink and fiddling with her straw. The past week had been nothing but a roller coaster ride for her. The Grand Magic Games, the Dragons, her future self and Rogue's, it had been quite a bit much for her to take in. And those were the least of her thoughts. Over the last week, her mind had been strangely stuck on one person: Natsu. It was… weird, to put it mildly. She had never thought of Natsu much, definitely not this much, for sure. So why, for the love of Mavis, can't she get her mind off the fire-breathing knucklehead? Now that she thought about it, there was also that incident…. Lucy had to admit, it did feel…good to be fondled by Natsu.

'No wait, why the hell am I thinking about that?!' Lucy groaned against the bar as she desperately tried to block out dirty thoughts about Natsu. After all, there was no way he was that hormonal and he probably did it for the hell of it. Right? 'Great, just what I need, more unnecessary thoughts!' Lucy groaned for the umpteenth time that day. But however muddled up her feelings are, she did at least come to one conclusion; that there's something special about Natsu. She had noticed that every time she needed some form of comfort, she would always go to Natsu's side. It was strange how the knucklehead had that much hold over her. It's as if Natsu had the special ability make her feel comfortable and forget her surroundings sometimes.

All she needed now was to figure out what the heck it is her feelings were.

While Lucy was leaning against the bar, she broke out of her stupor thanks to a familiar voice.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu shouted from behind her back.

"Eeep!" Lucy squeaked.

"What's the matter, Luce? Yer acting weird again."

"Lucy's always weird, remember?" Happy quipped.

"Shut it, Happy!" Lucy snapped.

'Why wouldn't I be, you moron? It's all because of you!' Lucy screamed in her head. Just as she finished that sentence, Lucy gulped and scanned the guild with her sight. She definitely didn't want a certain mind-reading dragon slayer to overhear her. Luckily, Cobra was nowhere in sight, she sighed in relief as she remembered that he was out shopping with Kinana. She had passed by them on her way inside the guild. Apparently, the bar was running out of liquor, so Kinana decided to take it upon herself to restock the bar and Cobra offered to escort her.

Makarov had offered Cobra a place to stay while he had the paperwork for his pardon taken care of. And while Makarov didn't extend an offer for membership, Makarov seemed certain he was going to stick around.

"Hey Lucy, you listening?" Natsu asked.

"Umm yeah, sorry what was it?" Lucy almost sputtered.

Natsu sighed.

"Anyways, there's something important I need to talk to you now, got some time?" Natsu asked.

'Eeeh!? WHAT!? PLEASE TELL ME THIS ISN'T WHAT I THINK IT IS!' Lucy's mind was on the verge of over-exhausting itself. 'No wait, calm down, remember the last time this happened?' Lucy reminded herself, taking a short breath to calm down.

"Um yeah, sure Natsu. What is it?"

"Ok, truth is-"

"Oh, Master! Welcome back!" someone in the guild greeted.

Makarov likewise waved the guild members, signalling them to stand back down.

"How'd the meeting with the King and Council go?" Macao asked from a corner of the guild.

"No problem, right now we're just organizing the reconstruction duties among the guilds. The matter of Acnologia still has yet to be discussed in detail." Makarov said, facing his children from the front of the bar with a stern tone.

Macao likewise put on a hardened expression along with several other guild members. Among them, Natsu. On the other hand, there were also other guild members with worried expressions like Lucy.

"But that's enough of that now. We should be focusing on the present. We can think about that matter later." Makarov smiled gently as he tried to uplift his children's spirits.

"Hear, Hear!" Macao toasted.

And just like that, the guild went back to its usual atmosphere.

"Ahem! I have a little announcement to make, though." Makarov announced.

Seeing as the guild didn't seem to have heard him, Makarov sighed and transformed.

"HEY! YOU BRATS! LISTEN UP!" Makarov bellowed in his giant form.

The guild immediately went silent as Makarov reverted to his normal form.

"Now then…. Hmm? Where's Cobra?" Makarov wondered.

"Right here, Old Man!" Cobra shouted from the entrance with Kinana in tow.

"Ah, there you are."

"Geez, next time tone it down will ya? My ear's sensitive, y'know." Cobra groused.

Makarov simply hand waved him.

"All right then, are all the dragon slayers here as well?" Makarov asked.

"Here" Laxus replied.

"Over here, old man." Gajeel raised his hand.

"I'm here too!" Wendy piped up.

"Good. Now then, the King has asked me to announce an event to celebrate our victory over the dragons last week." Makarov began as he took out a parchment from his coat and held it in front of him.

"I'm going to announce the King's letter. 'In celebration of Fiore and mankind's victory over the invading dragons, I, King Toma E. Fiore, hereby announce the Dragons' Ball."

"The Dragons' Ball will be held in the next three days at Mercurius Palace. As for the name, there's a reason for that. This gala is also being held in honor of the dragon slayers. Hence, the Dragons' Ball. The dragon slayers will be the VIPs of this gala and you guys will open the dance portion of the ball." Makarov explained.

"VIP? It's not like we did anything to deserve that. We didn't even defeat them." Cobra argued.

Natsu nodded solemnly, agreeing with Cobra.

"I understand your point. But nevertheless, all of you were crucial in the battle. Dragon Slaying Magic has been proven to be the only kind of magic effective against dragons. If none of you were there, then we would have very well been overrun by them, and mankind would've been wiped out." Makarov countered.

"People all over Fiore have recognized your valiant efforts and contribution in the battle. That's why they're holding this ball in your honor."

A short pause hung in the air before Cobra spoke up again.

"….. There's something else, isn't it? Why don't you spill it, you conniving geezer?" Cobra smirked.

Makarov muttered under his breath, something along the lines of 'cheeky brat and his stupid hearing.'

"Fine, truth is, this ball is also a tournament of sorts. The best dance couple will get to take home 500 million Jewels, with half of it going into the guild's coffer."

"250 MILLION!? that's worth 2 years of rent and including the mission damages!" Lucy gawked. Finally! Her big break in paying the rent came! She never thought this day would finally come. Lucy started crying tears of joy.

"Come on, old man… there's a bit more, isn't there?" Cobra grinned evilly.

"Grr….. Fine! This is going to be mandatory for you dragon slayers 'cause I need to get in good graces with the King! You happy!?" Makarov yelled.

"Now that wasn't so bad was it?" Cobra snickered.

As Makarov finished with his announcement, the guild was bustling with newfound excitement once again.

"Yosh! I'm all fired up! Oi, Lucy! You're gonna be my partner right?!" Natsu asked demandingly.

"Eh!?" Lucy sweat-dropped.

"C'mon, you know I'm not gonna let Ice Freak or Metal-head win this contest!"

"Sigh… I should've known that's your reason."

"Sure, Natsu. Besides, I need the money anyways" Lucy answered with Jewels shining in her eyes.

"Lu-chan! Over here!" Levy called out to Lucy to her table.

"What's up, Levy-chan?" as Lucy approached Levy's table that she shared with Wendy and Charle, along with Natsu in tow.

"Sooo… are you guys going together?" Levy asked in a teasing tone.

Lucy's cheeks started to turn into a light shade of red.

"Yeah, Levy. He's not a bad dancer, so I'm not too worried. What about you, though?" Lucy smirked evilly at her friend, seeing an opportunity to turn things around on her.

Levy started squirming.

"Got a certain iron dragon slayer in your mind?" Lucy pressed on, taking on a sadistic smirk that almost eerily reminded Levy of Gajeel's.

"Lu-chan~~" Levy whined.

Lucy giggled. She knew that Levy had started falling for the dragon slayer ever since they returned from Tenrou. It came as quite a big surprise for her. And she also admitted that Gajeel had come a long way from his Phantom Lord days, even going so far as to take on a dangerous mission that could've killed him and Makarov wouldn't bat an eye over it. Gajeel's infiltration mission was considered a highly risky mission even by other guilds' standards. Not even Sabertooth had dared to venture in those waters. The fact that he completed the mission successfully was something of a feat in the Legal Guild circles. Everyone was very surprised to find out after the Games that Gajeel had gone that far for the guild.

"Sigh… I wish. But I don't think he'll even want to. It'd be a miracle if he went up and straight asked me now." Levy mumbled.

"Metal-head's too oblivious to actually ask you. It would take hell freezing over 10 times and he still wouldn't get it. I bet he's too chicken, even I've got bigger balls enough to actually ask Lucy. He's probably afraid to lose, anyways." Natsu cackled at Gajeel's apparent cowardice.

Just as he finished talking, a long iron pole smacked right into his face.

"I heard that, Salamander!" Gajeel roared.

"Bring it, gear-brains!" Natsu roared back.

"Oi, Shrimp! You're coming with me to the ball, right!? We're gonna wipe the floor together and show Salamader and Bunny Girl what we're made of!" Gajeel said before charging towards Natsu and started off the guild's daily brawl.

"That wasn't exactly how I wanted him to ask me…." Levy muttered at the dragon slayer in question, frowning at his back.

"Hey, at least you got your wish, right?" Lucy said, trying to cheer her best friend up.

"Yeah, I guess so." Levy conceded.

"Speaking of which, what about Wendy?" Lucy said, as a thought occurred to her and turned to Wendy.

"I don't think I'll be able to, Lucy-san. I don't even have someone around my age to go with." Wendy replied sheepishly. She had to admit, a part of her wanted to go, but she didn't have anybody that would probably be willing to be her partner.

"That's true…. I think Makarov would let you off the hook since you're an exception." Levy agreed, but decided to change her mind as someone caught the corner of her eye.

"No, on second thought…. What about Romeo? He's right around your age, why don't you two go together?" Levy suggested while glancing over towards the young boy in question.

"Ehh!? Ro-Romeo-kun? I don't think so. I don't think he's interested in something like that. Or me anyways." Wendy stuttered with a blush on her face.

"Why not, Wendy-chan? You said you wanted to go with someone with your own age. Romeo fits the criteria." Lucy argued.

"Bu-but!" Wendy tried to protest.

"Hey, Romeo, over here!" Lucy called out to the boy.

"Lu-lucy san!" Wendy squeaked.

"Yeah, what is it Lucy-nee?" asked Romeo as he came over to their table.

"Wendy here wants to go to the ball, and she needs somebody her age to go with. Naturally, we thought of you." Levy answered for Lucy and Wendy.

Romeo scratched his head.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'm not sure if Wendy here really wants to go with me."

"Romeo, didn't you hear what Master said? The dragon slayers are the stars of this ball. Do you want Wendy to go there alone with all that attention on her? You know how shy she is around so many people." Lucy stated as a matter-of-factly with a slightly threatening tone.

Romeo gulped. He knew that if he were to turn down this request, Levy and Lucy would give him the most painful beating of his life. Or worse, they could have Wendy's dragon slayer brothers to chase him to the ends of the world. As much as Natsu loved Romeo, there was no question that he put Wendy above the boy.

That, and he didn't really like to see his friends troubled. After all, Fairy Tail helps their members in need.

"All right, fine. I'll go. Is that okay with you Wendy?" he asked.

"U-um, sure. I guess…" Wendy replied in a small voice.

"Well, there you have it, Romeo. It's a go." Levy cheerfully concluded, leaving no room to protest.

Romeo nodded and headed back to his father's side.

In the meanwhile, Wendy opted to lean against the table trying to hide the blush in her face. Levy chuckled and patted the young dragon's head. Lucy let out a small giggle at the embarrassed young girl in front of her.

"Did you really have to do that?" Charle asked with a disapproving frown at the girls.

"Hey, it's a date she wanted, then a date she'll get." Levy argued.

"Sigh… I just hope that boy behaves himself, at least." Charle said.

"Don't worry, Charle. Even though Natsu is his idol, He's definitely got better tact than Natsu." Lucy assured.

Meanwhile, Makarov approached the second floor railing from above, and looked down at an all too familiar sight of a guild brawl. When would some of his more impulsive children learn to control their tempers better? Then again, Fairy Tail wouldn't be Fairy Tail without the daily fisticuffs.

Makarov took a deep breath.

"ALL RIGHT YOU BRATS! KNOCK IT OFF!" Makarov yelled from the second floor, breaking up the brawl that had been going on in the guild.

Instantly, the guild stopped the fight.

"I need the dragon slayers up here in my office, so come on up. And bring your partners for the ball dance too."

The dragon slayers followed Makarov's instructions with their respective partners and went up to his office. Inside, Laxus and Mirajane was already waiting. Seeing the demon barmaid's eyes brighten up with glee at the couples, Lucy knew she was in her own little happy fantasy land.

As she surveyed the couples, she noticed Cobra had chosen Kinana as his partner. It wasn't much of a surprise, really. Ever since Cobra stayed at the guild, he could be seen mostly hanging around Kinana and chatting with her. According to Kinana, she said they had a bit of history together, but didn't seem willing to delve much further into the topic. Nevertheless, with how close they seemed to be with each other, everyone had started speculating about their relationship. So, the fact that Cobra had chosen her as his partner, was enough to put those speculations to rest.

And then, there was Wendy and Romeo. Lucy could tell Mirajane was resisting the urge to squeal at the sight of the young couple. Even Makarov seemed very pleased with the assembled couples.

"Ahem. Now then, as to the reason why I called you all here. All 10 of you will be going to Crocus and meet the King and his daughter as they've requested an audience with you. You will all depart for Crocus the day before the ball." Makarov explained.

"Why? Is there a special reason?" Levy asked.

"I have no idea, child. But I'm sure they have some sort of good reason. In fact, His Majesty has personally asked me."

"Excuse me, if we're going the day before the ball, doesn't that mean we're going to stay overnight at Crocus for the ball?" It was Lucy's turn to ask this time.

"That's already taken care of. As a matter of fact, you'll be staying overnight at Mercurius Palace." Makarov answered.

"We're staying at Mercurius? It sounds so important for His Highness to actually arrange for us to stay there." Said Levy as she was taken aback with the news.

"That sounds suspicious to me, old man. Are you sure this is legit?" Gajeel asked with suspicion.

"You have my word on it, and besides, if anything were to happen, I'm going there with you along with Rufus Lohr, Sabertooth's de facto Master." Makarov assured his children.

"His Highness himself asked me to come as well, anyways."

"Sabertooth? They're coming too?" Natsu replied in curiosity.

"Yes, them too." Makarov nodded.

"Wait a minute, you said there were 10 of us going. Who's Laxus' partner, then?" Lucy asked as she realized the fact.

"That would be me." Mirajane replied.

"Ehhh!?" as a chorus of shocked faces replied in unison.

"Don't look at me, Gramps insisted on it. So I might as well go with her." Laxus defended, in front of the accusing and inquisitive stares directed at him.

"If no one has anymore questions, that will be all." Makarov dismissed his children, and everyone went out his office.

"I wonder why they would summon all of us to the Palace? "Levy spoke up, bringing the subject to light as they were on their way down.

"I'm guessing they just want to personally thank us for everything that we've done. I don't think there's any ulterior motives this time." Lucy suggested, looking back at her friend.

"Hmm… I don't feel like I trust them, what with how everything happened with you." Said Natsu, skeptical of the government's intentions. After everything that transpired during the invasion, Natsu had changed quite a bit, becoming protective of Lucy whenever something involved her.

"Natsu, don't be like that. It's rude to think badly of people like that. And besides, I got over it, I'm safe and that's all that matters." Lucy said, trying to reassure her partner.

'Doesn't mean I won't let my guard down when it comes to you.' Natsu thought.

Cobra smirked. 'That idiot still hasn't got a clue of what he really thinks about that girl.' Kinana frowned at her partner, she knew that anytime Cobra was smiling like that for no apparent reason, it means he's eavesdropping on someone's thoughts.

'Erik-san, I told you not to listen in on people's thoughts.' Kinana telepathically scolded him as they headed for the bar.

'Hey, can I help it if that flame-head idiot doesn't remember my abilities? Besides, you're just as interested as everybody else in what's going on between those two.' Cobra telepathically pointed out. Thanks to their special connection, Cobra could converse with Kinana telepathically now. So far, Kinana is the only exception who could hear him. Trying to establish a communication between them for the past 7 years continuously had eventually paid off.

'Yes, but one; if I took advantage of your abilities, it'd be unfair to everybody else. Two; those two have every right to their private thoughts, and I'm not going to barge in their minds like that. I couldn't call myself a friend if I violated their privacy.' Kinana shot back with a disapproving frown.

'Ok, okay, fine. I'll try not to do that again. That Natsu really needs to be more careful next time.' Cobra promised his partner.

'Good. Here you go, a glass of gin laced with the best poison I could find.' Kinana handed him his drink.

"Thanks."

As Kinana went back to work helping Mirajane, she noticed that Gajeel and Natsu had already gone home with their respective dance partners. She smiled. Those particular pair of couples was one of the most anticipated couples in the betting pool. Everyone could pretty much see it. It would simply be a matter of time.

Gajeel and Levy had parted ways with the group, along with Lily to the dorms, while Natsu took Lucy to her apartment as usual. The girls breathed a sigh of relief as the boys' back and forth bickering was starting to get on their nerves.

"Hmm… I can't wait! I bet that huge gala or whatever will have some awesome food. Don't you think so, Lucy?"

"Hey Natsu, think there's going to be a huge grilled fish there?" Happy asked as he started to drool.

"Haa… as usual, all you guys can think of is food. If not that, then it's fighting somebody." Lucy shook her head. As usual, she stepped up on the side of the river despite warnings from passersby. But this time was a little different than usual, as Natsu gently took her hand to make sure she didn't fall.

Natsu had been doing this for a while now since the past week. Escorting her to her apartment and holding her hand like this. It seemed as if he wanted to make sure she was in one piece if he could help it. At first, Lucy chalked it up to plain ol' kindness from Natsu but now that she thought about it, he had noticeably changed whenever her well-being was involved.

For example, when she was helping with the reconstruction at Crocus, a beam of wood at a destroyed home had gotten loose as she was passing by. Luckily, Natsu saved her in time. But what happened afterwards became the problem. Natsu had gotten furious at the construction worker's carelessness and was on the verge of beating the poor man to death. Thankfully, Erza diffused the situation by placing a well-placed beating on his head that knocked him out. Gray and Erza had noted that Natsu usually wasn't this aggressive. Sure, he'd be angry at somebody if their carelessness potentially hurt his friends, but he would never try to hurt them, since they were innocent to begin with. And if Natsu's behavior concerned them, they didn't outwardly show it.

The more Lucy thought about it, the more confused she became. One moment Natsu treats her the same just like everybody else, the next moment he gets a bit intimate, much like what is happening now. She couldn't for the life of her figure out the signals. Why was he so simple and yet so complicated to understand? One thing's for sure; Natsu Dragneel was an enigma in its entirety.

"Well, we're here." Natsu stated as they stopped outside the apartment building.

"Thanks for walking me home, you two."

"No problem. Y'know, it'd be nice if we could win that prize." Natsu nonchalantly mused.

"Eh? That's rare of you, Natsu. You're not one to think about money." Lucy looked at him quizzically.

"Yeah! Think about the tons of food we could buy with that prize!" Natsu gleefully proclaimed.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

Lucy rolled her eyes "Of course you do. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Let's try practicing for the dance too if you have time."

"Sure."

"See you tomorrow." Lucy bid goodbye and closed the door.

"Natsu…" Happy began.

"Not now, Happy. I want to give her a good time while it lasts." Natsu replied solemnly.

Happy sadly nodded as they went off to their house.

Meanwhile, Lucy finished showering and put on her pajamas before going to bed. Just as she was about to sleep, she suddenly remembered about what Natsu wanted to tell her today.

'I wonder what he was going to say….. oh well, I'll ask him tomorrow or later.' Lucy thought as she drifted off to sleep.

Author's Notes: And that's the first chapter done. I might upload the next chapter tomorrow. But with Finals going on, my time is limited. Hopefully I can churn out the next chapter before the new manga chapter comes out.

Big thanks to Catwho-sama for being my beta. I must bow to your greatness!