"The Cross Country race has started off with a bang!"

The commentators are on the edge of their seats as the crowd cheers for the individual runners in the race; who jump from cart to cart down the street.

"Everyone is eager to show their stuff today!"

The older man said as you could feel the jealousy in his tone as he lamented his long since past youth. But a third commentator brought focus away from Yajima's reminiscing. One who was just as short, but he was no man. He was a mouse.

"Thanks again for having me up here, pals."

The main man then addressed the mouse.

"Thank you for joining us, Master Michael."

The mouse waved his hand to dismiss the formality.

"Please. Michael was my father. Just Mickey is fine. Well, actually Walt was my father, but…. Ah…nevermind."

The other two chuckled.

"We were surprised when you weren't here for the introductions. So, when we heard you made a 'fashionably late entrance' we just had to invite you up here as a guest commentator."

Mickey shrugged in embarrassment for being late.

"Well, I'm not just a guild master. I also have many other responsibilities. I was held up."

Yajima took the hint.

"You sound like a busy man...er...mouse. I suppose you and your guild would have to be hard workers to qualify for the Grand Magic Games in such a short amount of time. Speaking of your guild; would it be safe to assume you're rooting for your guild member Lea to take the win in this race?"

"Oh gosh. Is it that obvious?"

Mickey rubbed the back of his head.

"But it looks like Fairy Tail's Gray Fullbuster is the favorite today. Lea seems to be having trouble with Gray's Ice Make magic."

Yajima shook his head in disappointment.

"...And it looks like Gray has experience dealing with 'hotheads' like Lea. He's got one heck of a slippery mountain to climb if he wants to catch up."

The cheers of the crowd echo in the distance as Juvia makes her way downstairs to await her beloved at ground level when he inevitably arrives in first place. In her excited rush, she has Wendy moment and trips over her own feet. But before she hits the ground, she is caught by Sora who jumps in front of her as she falls into his arms instead of on the pavement.

"I thought the race was going on outside, not in here. Where's the fire?"

Sora teased jokingly as Juvia realized the uncomfortable proximity between her and the boy. She quickly got to her feet again and brushed herself off to hide the red on her face.

"Juvia was just...going to greet her beloved when he wins! ...Thank you for catching Juvia."

She wanted to leave as soon as she got to her feet, but couldn't bring herself to be rude to a boy who smiled at her that way. She was sure there was no ill intent behind his smile, but that was exactly why it made her uncomfortable. Very few people ever smile at her that way; especially people she doesn't know.

"...Why are YOU here?"

She didn't mean for her question to come off as abrasive as it did. But she couldn't take it back now. His reaction at least made her feel a little better about it.

"Wait...do you mean; why am I downstairs instead of watching the race? Why am I in the tournament? Or...why am I here? Cause if it's the last one...smarter people than me have pondered that question for years. Why are any of us here?"

She let out the lightest giggle.

"Juvia meant why you are downstairs."

"Well, I was excited and wanted to walk around to relax. Apparently, I'm up first for the one on one fights."

"Really? Against who?"

"Don't know yet. The staff just told me to get ready for it. If it's anyone from your guild, I might be in trouble. You guys look tough. Especially the red head. ...She makes me a little nervous."

"That's Erza for you."

The cheering outside intensifies greatly; giving the two of them the impression the the race had ended. They both dashed for the nearest door to the battlefield as the runners crossed the finish line from the other end. All of the contenders were already here, so it must have been a closer race than Juvia thought. But the announcer pumpkin answered her question.

"And the winner is...Lea! In a positively blistering comeback, Pumpkin!"

Juvia couldn't believe it. She ran to find Gray catching his breath off to the side as everyone else crowded around Lea who was basking in the attention and giving Sora a high five.

"...Gray?"

He kept his head down.

"Not now."

Sora saw Juvia trying to reassure her friend and got it into his head that he could help.

"Hey. Ya know… Second place isn't so bad."

Sora offered him a hand up, but Gray slapped it away.

"Shut up! Don't get all condescending just because you got one win!"

Sora pulled back.

"I...wasn't trying-"

"Oh. So you think you can beat Fairy Tail without even TRYING, huh?"

Juvia could see Sora was getting more and more uncomfortable as Gray blew up at him and timidly tried to cool him off.

"That's...not what he said, Gray."

She moved to put her hand on his shoulder, but he brushed her aside and stormed off.

"...Whatever. Don't get cocky, Red Crown. That's the only win you're gonna get off of us."

As he stomped out of the stadium, he passed by Terra; who purposely bumped into his shoulder. Gray turned toward his agitator, ready to tell him off. But one look into his eyes and he saw...he was just as mad at him. In fact, it looked like he wanted him to start something so Terra would have an excuse to fight him.

But Gray let it go and continued on his way as Tera turned and shook his head as he left Gray a parting comment.

"Nothing good comes from blowing up at your friends. Trust me."

Terra moved on outside to congratulate Lea and passed Sora and Juvia. Sora was still visibly shaken up by the altercation as he wasn't used to people getting mad at him for pretty much reason. But he was more concerned with how Juvia took the whole thing.

"Does...he always treat you like that?"

Juvia shook her head.

"No. But...it's not all together uncommon. Juvia is the one who sees it the most though."

"And you're alright with that?"

"...Gray is a complicated person. He had a rough life."
He grabs her shoulders to look her in the eye.

"That's no excuse! You didn't do anything to deserve that. How can your 'beloved' ignore you and brush you aside so often?"

Offended by his insinuation, she pushes Sora away.

"Don't act like you know Gray. Don't act like you know Juvia! You come here...so sure of yourself and make light of Juvia's relationship?! You mock Juvia and Gray's LOVE?!"

Sora; taken back by her aggressive stance remains silent for a while, but eventually responds.

"...It's not love if it only goes ONE way."

*SLAP*

Juvia slaps Sora hard. As she leaves, he cups his red cheek. This was the first time Sora made someone so mad as to hit him. It felt worse than the actual slap.

Riku came by just as Juvia left and patted Sora's back.

"Women. Am I right. Don't worry about it. She can't stay mad forever."

Sora removed his hand from his cheek as Riku tried not to laugh at the hand-shaped mark across his face.

"I know. But...I just don't understand why she would willingly put herself in a place like that."

"I can."

Sora looked at Riku in shock as he explained.

"Obsession is a form of darkness. And she seems like she has a LOT of inner darkness that she just...pushes down instead of facing reality."

"So...what can I do about that?"

Lea approached and interjected into the conversation.

"Nothing. You gotta leave the pieces where they fell. Sometimes you have to solve your problems alone. She's not gonna let you fix a problem that she doesn't believe is real."

Sora knew Lea and Riku were right, but that didn't make it any easier to swallow.

"So...I just stay away from her? I think I can do that."

Riku chuckles.

"Would it be easier to get a restraining order?"

Riku only got a scowl from Sora as a response.

The announcer pumpkin waited for everyone to settle down before getting back into the swing of things.

"Congrats to our Cross Country champion! Coming up next: we have our first One on one match of the Grand Magic Games, Pumpkin!"

Everyone came to attention as they waited eagerly to hear the participants.

"I can't wait to see them in action! You all voted for 'em! Sora vs Juvia Lockser!"

Riku and Lea cringed a bit as they looked to see Sora mentally kicking himself.

"...Can't do anything right today."

*Matchups have been decided.*