A/N: I suppose this is where it gets more shippy, if only because there's more going on with ships at this point so there's more to talk about. Lots of GaLe in this one because this is where we see that ship starting to sail.

As always, this may be a bit OOC because I'm not great at grasping characters, but I'm doing my best!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

Setting:

Part 1: Set a couple nights before the guild leaves for Tenrou Island

Part 2: Set after the Grimoire Heart attack, but before Acnologia's attack/Fairy Sphere activation

Lucy stretched as she sank into the bath at Fairy Hills. All of the girls from the guild had gathered for one last stress busting night before the S-class trials.

"Where are Erza and Mira?" Lucy asked. Those two never missed bath nights – particularly Mira.

"The Master asked all the S-class mages to help set stuff up," Cana shrugged. "He says it's because he's too old, but we know it's because he's too lazy."

"But he is old," Lucy pointed out.

"True, but his magic negates that," Cana said. "Not to mention most of the planning is coming up with hoops for us to jump through – not heavy lifting."

Lucy sighed. "Is Mira still S-class? I thought she was retired as a mage."

"She's technically S-class," Levy said. "Just retired. Because she doesn't use her magic much, she's not as strong as she was, but she's still strong enough to be S-class. I'd bet if she wanted to she could get into top shape pretty quickly."

"W- wait! She's not in shape?" Lucy had heard about how terrifying she was when she fought Freed.

"Nope," Lisanna replied. "She has a lot more takeovers that she's not strong enough to use right now. I think since the incident with Freed, though, she's become motivated to get that strong again."

Cana grinned. "So you're saying we'll get to watch Erza and her duke it out again?"

"I don't think so," Lisanna replied. "They're both too responsible to destroy the guild now."

Cana laughed. "Responsible? Erza?" She started to double over, but as soon as her face hit the water, she began to cough. Wendy swam over and tried to help Cana.

"U- um. Maybe we should talk about something else?" Wendy suggested as she patted Cana's back.

"Edolas," Cana croaked out. "I wanna know more about Edolas."

Some of the other girls nodded.

"Speaking of Erza, what was Erza like?" Levy asked.

Lisanna shivered. "Terrifying. And not in the same way. She tried to kill members of Fairy Tail – and succeeded most of the time."

"M- maybe we should talk about someone else then," Levy suggested. "What was I like?"

"You were…" Lisanna paused. She tried to think of it diplomatically "Well… You weren't the nicest?"

Levy sighed. "I guess that's a good thing if in Edolas our counterparts tend to be opposites to us in personality."

"Yeah. Usually it's personality, but some like Wendy end up being different in other ways," Lisanna said. "Edolas Wendy is older."

"How about Gajeel?" Levy asked.

"What? You interested?" Cana asked, a perverse grin on her face.

"CANA! Cana then," Levy said. "What is Cana like?"

"Well, Gajeel and Cana are both a lot more well put-together," Lisanna replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Cana asked, the perverted grin replaced with an annoyed look.

"Edolas Gajeel dresses really well – suits and a hat," Lisanna said. "Not to mention he's not impulsive at all. If anything, he does too much research before he acts."

"It was really interesting," Wendy commented. "He and our Gajeel got along really well!"

"That is odd," Levy said.

"Cana, I don't think you'd get along with your Edolas version," Lisanna replied.

"Try me."

"Well, she's really innocent," Lisanna told her. "She doesn't like to drink alcohol. At all. Instead, she likes tea. She also dresses in a really conservative way and makes sure to be very polite at all times."

"Sounds boring," Cana replied. "How does she not drink at all?"

"She hates alcohol," Lisanna replied.

Cana snorted. "Glad she's not this me, then." She grabbed another bottle of sake and poured herself another cup. "How about your siblings?"

"Well, Mira's the same," Lisanna said. "But she didn't have any rebellious phase. Elfman is a lot like he was before I went to Edolas – really shy and submissive."

"Interesting," Levy said. "I suppose Mira's the opposite if you hadn't gone to Edolas, but Elfman is probably the opposite only because you went to Edolas. Was there anyone else that was similar?"

"Well, Bisca and Alzack are pretty similar, but they were already a couple instead of dancing around each other," Lisanna replied.

"How are Gray and Juvia?"

Lucy grinned nervously. "W- well."

Juvia leaned in. "Well?"

"Their relationship is flipped," Lucy replied.

"What do you mean?" Levy asked.

"Gray's the one obsessed with Juvia, and Juvia's the one who ignores him," Lucy said.

"Juvia would never do that," the girl cried, outraged.

"Remember, Juvia-san, Edolas is opposite," Wendy reminded her, trying to comfort the water mage. Despite that, Juvia had begun to liquify and a rain cloud formed above her head.

"Besides, Juvia, I think you'd still like our Gray more. Isn't part of his appeal that he's hard to get?" Lucy pointed out.

Juvia didn't respond.

"And he keeps way too many layers on at all times," Lisanna added.

"Could you even get him naked?" Cana had once again began to laugh. "If that's Gray – what is Natsu like?"

"A total doormat," Lucy whispered. Unfortunately the bath hall magnified all sound, so everyone heard. Cana's laughter magnified.

"This is too good," Cana said between laughs. "I wouldn't wanna meet myself, but I wish I could go just to see you guys!"

"Does it feel good to be back, Lisanna?" Lucy asked as Cana continued her laughing spell.

"I'll miss everyone in Edolas, but I'm glad I can be back with my family," Lisanna said. "But it'll be hard getting used to everything again. So much has changed!"

"I'm sure it'll all work out," Levy assured her. "You already know that Lucy and Wendy are great."

"Yeah!" Lisanna agreed. "But I don't really know what I'm going to do."

"What do you mean?" Levy asked.

"Well, I want to work the bar with Mira, but it might also be fun to go on jobs," Lisanna said.

"Not to mention more lucrative," Cana added.

"And hopefully moreso after the S-class trials," Lucy continued. "It's too bad that they can only have one person pass."

"Some years they don't have a trial at all, so I'm just happy there's been a lot lately," Lisanna replied.

"Really?" Lucy asked. "I thought they happened yearly!"

"That's only because a lot of the guild's S-class mages retired or moved on to other jobs and the guild's revenue went up, so we can afford to have them," Cana said. "S-class mages get a lot of expensive perks – an office, a longue, sometimes they go to parties or meetings in lieu of the master."

"Do they get a salary like the Master does?"

"Does it really matter with how much they get compensated for their work?" Cana replied.

"If the guild's paying the salary it does," Lucy said.

"Never bothered to find out," Cana told her. "Speaking of which, Levy, have you bothered to find out what Gajeel's dick looks like?"

"WHAT?" Levy squeaked. She tried to tackle Cana to get her to shut up.

"You obviously like him," Cana said.

"Oh, lay off Cana," Lucy said, feeling bold enough to defend her friend. Cana jerked her head around to face her and she immediately regretted her phrasing. "Can't you see that Wendy's not comfortable right now?"

Cana looked over to Wendy, who was blushing bright red and blubbering in embarrassment at the water. Cana, feeling bad for the girl but unwilling to admit her mistake, went over to Wendy and smashed the girl's face into her chest.

"That's not what I meant," Lucy sighed, giving up on making sense of Cana.

"Then why'd she choose him as her partner for the trials?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Levy questioned Cana. The other girls nodded. "The S-class trial probably has a test of intelligence, but the main focus will be on ability in battle. My magic isn't exactly great in battle so I don't use it that way, therefore I need a partner that's adept at fighting. He was my best option."

"I know that," Cana said. "But is that the real reason?"

"YES!" All the girls responded.

"Juvia chose Lisanna to be her partner because Lisanna's abilities would complement Juvia's," Juvia said.

"Yeah, is it really such a crime?" Lisanna asked, backing Juvia up.

"I mean, why'd you pick Lucy, Cana, if you didn't think she'd be a good partner?" Levy asked the woman in question.

"I don't know. I just thought Lucy would be the best partner," Cana said.

"See? It's not because you have a crush on her or anything," Levy told Cana.

"I didn't say that. Well, I don't have a crush on her, but look at that body – I'd totally hook up with her," Cana grinned. "Just not a relationship or anything."

"CANA!" Lucy screamed, reacting to her partner's statement. Wendy had sunk under the water, hoping to hide her blush.

"At least Evergreen and Elfman are open about their relationship," Cana said. "Unlike some people."

"I thought they were trying to hide it. They're denying it to Mira and I," Lisanna replied.

"They're trying, but they're so bad at hiding it that I'd say it counts as not hiding their relationship," Levy quipped.

"Good point," Lucy sighed.

"Speaking of which, Lisanna, how loud is Elfman when they have sex?" Cana asked.

"Eww… I don't want to think about that!" Lisanna said. "Mira says he'll just disappear some nights, so I always thought he went to visit Fairy Hills."

"Nope. Erza's way too scary," Cana said. "Believe me, I've tried to sneak guys in before. Somehow, even if you think she's out on a mission across Fiore she finds some way to find out and chases the guy out. It's less trouble just to buck up the money for a hotel room."

"I wonder where he goes then?" Lisanna asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Cana wiggled an eyebrow.

"No," Lisanna sighed. "Not at all."

On Tenrou Island

After the attack from Grimoire Heart, the members of Fairy Tail were taking time to heal and rest while plans were being discussed and made about the fate of the S-class trials. While the men were trying to outclass each other's' stories of valor in their fight against the dark guild, the women sat down for a little relaxation. While the conversation started serious enough, with discussion about the day's events and their conditions, it quickly took a less serious turn.

"What was all that with Gajeel earlier?" Juvia asked.

"W- what do you mean?" Levy replied nervously.

"What do you mean 'what does she mean?'" Erza attacked, nodding in agreement with Juvia. "It's not like he wasn't calling you pet names or you didn't help him back to camp."

"Not to mention looking over him well when he got back to camp," Lisanna added.

"And the jealousy you showed when he was lining up for 'nurse' Erza," Juvia said.

"Even just choosing him as a partner in the first place now seems suspicious," Erza agreed. "Initially it seemed like a smart strategic move, but now it makes sense."

"He was protecting me! It was nothing more," Levy tried to convince Erza. She did notice that the iron she produced had a heart in the 'O,' but that was entirely unintentional. She knew she was blushing.

"I thought-" Lucy paused before giving her friend's secret away.

"You thought Levy had a crush on Gajeel, right?" Cana grinned. "I never pegged you to be a masochist, Levy. Liking the guy that beat you up and pinned you to a tree."

"CANA!" Levy squealed, trying to tackle Cana and cover her mouth.

"No," Cana said, fighting Levy off of her, "You're not getting out of this!"

"Shouldn't we be talking about Wendy? Isn't that why you called us girls here to talk anyways, Erza?" Levy pointed out.

"Don't try to change the subject, Levy," Cana warned.

"No, Cana, she's right. Wendy is in a much more dire situation," Erza said.

"And what would that be?" Mira asked.

"Mest," Erza said.

"I don't think Wendy would say anything incriminating to him. Besides, the Magic Council wouldn't actually destroy their most powerful guild," Mira replied.

"It's not that," Erza told her. "He's a total pedophile, and he's after Wendy."

"Oh?" Mira asked, a pleasant smile on her face. "Why do you say that?"

"Have you seen him Mira? The way he looks at her?" Erza exclaimed in a very outraged voice.

"Seriously, it's creepy as fuck," Cana agreed.

"It's creepy enough that he conveniently 'ran into her' on her way home from the guild late at night, only to ask her to be his partner for the S-class trials," Lucy backed Erza up.

"Or just how he disappeared with her off the boat. He's also kept her separated from the rest of us quite a bit," Levy said. "What if he did that to kidnap her?"

"It would make sense. I was always told that pedophiles keep kids away from their families as much as possible to try and seduce them," Lucy said off-hand.

"Yeah! He's off the island now – he's probably back with the council – but who's to stop him from coming and taking her?"

"And that's why we need to talk, Mirajane." Erza was obviously frustrated with her former rival's questioning of the situation. "We need to find a way to protect her."

"Can we figure this out when we're off the island? Who's to say he'll even come back to the guild?" Cana asked her.

"Oh, I know he'll come for her," Erza stated grimly. "That's how these disgusting creatures operate."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do a great job of protecting her at Fairy Hills then," Mira said. "I've heard you're good at keeping men from defiling the women there." Despite no hint of sarcasm in Mira's voice, Cana and Levy began to snicker at her.

Erza nodded proudly, oblivious to the fact that the other girls were obviously unhappy with her "protection."

"Anyways, if we're going to head home, we probably need to help pack up," Mira suggested.

"Cana and I have something we need to do as well," Lucy said as she stood up from the circle.

"Erza?" The Master called. "I need to discuss something with you!" She nodded and got up to resume the duties of an S-class mage.

Wendy watched from afar as the circle of women was broken. She wondered what they had been discussing, but figured she didn't want to know. Still, she waited for the day that she would be old enough to fully appreciate the conversations only those older Fairy Tail members could have.

A/N: The end of this chapter! Next is Pre-GMG, then during/after GMG.