I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.

Chapter 4

It was around one in the morning. Almost the entire group was asleep in their rooms, all except for Erza, Levy, and Lucy. The three girls were in their hotel room, each perched on their own beds just talking about the unexpected events of their day. When Levy spoke about her slight romantic moment with Gajeel on the beach, not only did the she blush, so did the other two. Both Erza and Lucy were enthusiastic, and encouraged Levy to go for it. "It's obvious that he has feelings for you. You just need to give him a helping hand," Lucy had said to her friend when the blue haired mage was having doubts on how to approach the iron dragon-slayer after this. However, when the topic turned to Erza, the room went quiet before both Levy and Lucy bombarded the red haired mage with questions upon questions.

"Jellal was here?!"

"Where is he now?"

"Did he hurt you?"

"Why was he following you?"

"What did you-"

"Enough!" Erza said, effectively shutting the other two up in fear of feeling the re-quip mages wrath. There was a moment's pause before Erza spoke. "Yes he was here. He's staying in one of the hotels rooms; I'm not sure which though. He didn't hurt me, but as for why he was following me, I have no clue. I didn't get a chance to ask him because Meredy arrived and took him back to the hotel. All I know is that they are here because there was word that some members of a recently disbanded dark guild would be coming to the island, and they are hoping to find information on other dark guilds from them." Although this explained why Jellal was at Akane Resort, it still didn't explain as to why he had been following Erza. As Erza pondered, Lucy spoke, causing her to fall out of her thoughts. "Should we tell the others that he was here? I doubt Natsu will be overly excited to hear that he's on the island, even if they made up last time." It was true that the two males were on good terms, but that was stretching it; Natsu may have forgiven Jellal for his crimes, but he certainly hadn't forgotten the pain and suffering he had put Erza through. This point made Erza frown a little before speaking. "I think it would be advisable to let them know. We don't want any of them to disturb Crime Sorcière's proceedings if they are here on business matters," Erza said to the two, but her expression hadn't changed much. Since the topic of Jellal was discussed, Erza had not smiled once throughout her interrogation by the other two, who both noticed this. However it was Levy that had decided to change the subject.

Turning around, Levy had a mischievous grin on her face as she asked Lucy, "so, Lu? What happened between you and Natsu? I noticed that you two came back to the hotel together." This remark made Lucy suddenly find it extremely difficult to look Levy in the eye without blushing a little, so instead she looked over to Erza, who's mood had changed faster than when she re-quipped; this was a mistake on Lucy's part, because Erza also had a devious glint in her eyes. She didn't even know why she was blushing, it's not like I have those kinds of feelings for him Lucy thought reasonably in her head. Lucy tried to calm herself down before she looked at them, though not directly in the eyes, and spoke. "Honestly, not much. He apologised for… you know, that," Lucy said, pointing at her back; when they had come back to the hotel, Wendy managed to get rid of not only the 'work of art' but the sun burn itself, so Lucy was now back to her normal skin tone. "Then we hugged for a while before coming back," Lucy finished. To anyone who may have watched the event, they would have said that this was all that happened, but Lucy had left out a few details, like how she had felt; when they had hugged, the tingling sensation had overwhelmed her whole body, but there was also a slight pain when he touched her; it was a good pain (if that was possible) in the pit of her stomach; it was the kind of pain that you couldn't help but love. Lucy honestly didn't know why she had felt like this, and why it was only Natsu made her feel like this; on their walk back to the hotel alone they had stayed quiet, but this was because Lucy suddenly found herself nervous in his presence, worried of saying something that would make her sound stupid, even though she had never been worried about looking like a fool in front of him before. She honestly didn't know what was happening to herself. Maybe she was starting to feel different things for Natsu? No, I am definitely not forming a crush on that flame-head! Lucy thought stubbornly in her head I mean this is Natsu!

After she had spoken, in her moment of silence, Lucy's expressions were visible on her face; by the time she had reached her own obstinate conclusion, she was scowling ever so slightly. Levy broke the silence by saying, "okay, Lu. I believe you." But it was evident in her blue haired friends' voice that she didn't believe her, and when Lucy looked up at Levy,she could tell that this wasn't going to be the last time this conversation came up.

As the other two slept, Erza quietly got out of her queen sized bed, grabbed some clothing and went into the bathroom to change, trying to be as quiet as possible so as to not wake the other two. Ten minutes later and Erza was, as quietly as she could, clicking shut the rooms' door behind her. She walked along the corridor, down the flights of stairs and out of the hotel. As she stood outside, the early dawn sunlight flashed her a good morning; for it still being considerably early, the sun was rather bright so Erza put on her sunglasses , which had been hanging in the 'V' line of her jogging top, before beginning her morning stretches. "S'cuse me," came a voice from behind her, followed by a small prod in the back. Erza looked behind her with a slight annoyed look at the squat little man who dared to interrupt her morning routine. However she realised that she had been blocking the hotel entrance, and the guy had three rather large and heavy looking boxes stacked on top of each other in his arms. She moved to the side and watched the guy as he walked forward and then right, onto the beach and out of sight. She continued with her stretching for a few more minutes before feeling loose enough to start her jog. Since she had used the hiking trail yesterday, Erza decided to jog along the beach; the golden sands surrounded the whole island so would be the perfect path for her jog, and would also keep her concentrated on not falling over. As she made her way on the beach, Erza decided to go left, opposite from the man from earlier. Erza got her footing sorted before she started a light jog to pace herself with.

Almost an hour later and Erza was nearing the finish line of her new jogging track. In the distance, towards her left, the hotel was just visible. As Erza looked away, her legs stopped moving and she halted in place just before she collided with a ladder. Looking up she saw the guy from earlier standing at the top trying to put up a sign, though what the sign said she didn't know. This was the second time that she had almost collided with this man, so she felt like an explanation was in need here. "Excuse me," Erza shouted up to the man, startling him. He waited until the ladder stopped wobbling before he looked down at her. Seeing her, he merely grunted in reply, acknowledging her. Erza saw this as his way of telling her to continue so she didn't hesitate to. "What are you doing exactly?" Erza asked the man, holding the bottom of the ladder for him in case it wobbled again. Just as she asked, the man had finished putting up the sign and in response to her question, he grunted once more whilst using a thumb to point at the writing behind him. In big, bold writing were the words, "AKANE'S SUMMER COMPETITION". This piqued Erza's interest; she did love a competition, especially when she won. Under the bold title was some more information:

This years' competition includes various rounds which will test your strengths and weaknesses. To sign up, fill out the form at the hotel's front desk. This is a team competition, so participants must be in groups of four. Further information will be given upon signing up, and during the competition.

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Erza sprinted towards the hotel.

"Are you gonna tell us why we're all having to come down to the beach, Erza?" Gray asked the re-quip mage over the heads of the others. Lucy looked over to the ice-make mage as he spoke before turning to Erza, also curious about why she had been dragged out of their hotel room; as she past each room, Erza had knocked on all of their comrades door and as soon as they answered, she had immediately dragged them out and told them to follow her to the beach. Some of them, the guys in particular, were a little grouchy at being hauled from the safety of their rooms, wanting to have a day without drama. But everything about Erza's persona literally screamed mystery, which could only mean she had a scheme up her sleeve, so drama could only pursue close behind. Although Lucy was not particularly happy of being told what to do whilst on holiday, she had to admit that she was curious to see what it was Erza had in store for the group.

It was only when they had arrived at the beach and got to the front of the large cascading crowd that the group knew what it was that Erza had wanted them all on the beach for. "Hello, are you here for the competition?" a perky and bubbly voice sounded from their right. A long and lanky brunette female, who must have only been a few years older than all of them, was the one who had spoken with a large smile that stretched to her cheeks. She wore a size-too-big yellow hoodie which had in big red letters the word 'STAFF' written on the front. "All people wanting to watch have to stay behind that line," the staff member indicated, pointing towards a white line of rope that was placed on the floor, where behind it the group that they had walked through stood. Just as the group began to walk back to behind that line, Erza spoke, "actually we are here to participate in the competition. We should be under the names 'Fairy Tail A' and Fairy Tail B'." At this remark, the rest of the group snapped their heads towards the red haired mage, looks of annoyance and irritation on their faces. "Hey! What's this all about, Erza? None of us agreed to this," Gray complained, but his anger was short lived as Erza gave him her famous death stare, daring him to continue. The glare had caused all of them to change their expressions too, so that each looked like they had been petrified.

"What was that, Gray?" Erza said with dead-pan eyes directed towards the ice mage.

"N-nothing, mam!"

"I thought so," Erza said before turning back to the brunette.

Erza finished talking to the female staff member, getting everything sorted out before coming over to the group. "I decided that this would be a good way to spend our day, as not only will it benefit us for our team work skills, it will be fun. And the prizes aren't too bad either..." Erza trailed off. This caught the attention of a few of them, wondering what the prize might be. Just as some of them opened their mouths to ask, the staff member came over to them and asked them to follow her over to a tent a bit further along the beach. They complied and so the group all trailed behind the female, Erza almost stepping on her heels in her eager anticipation.

When they were inside the tent, which was an overly large pristine white thing that could have easily served as a penthouse it was that big, the interior was split into sections, each of which was assigned to a team. The female staff member cleared her throat, catching the attention of the group. "Alrighty! So my name is Uma and I'm just one of the members of staff helping to create this event and make sure it all runs smoothly. If you need anything or have any questions, just come find me or another member of staff and we will help you to the best of our abilities." Uma allowed this to sink in as she flicked through the note board that she was holding; she must have picked it up earlier. "Alrighty, so Fairy Tail A is Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Erza, and Fairy Tail B is Wendy, Levy, Gajeel, and Juvia. Is this correct?" Uma asked, the question, although to the whole group, was mainly directed to Erza. However, it was Juvia that spoke up. "There must be a mistake. Juvia should be on the other team with Gray. Juvia-"

"Those teams are correct," Erza interrupted, answering Uma's question.

"But Juvia-"

"Those are my carefully chosen teams," Erza said, giving Juvia a look that could make little children quiver in fear. Juvia just gulped, but stayed quiet after this. Lucy had to try to stifle a laugh from watching the comical scene in front of her.

Uma had just watched with her mouth hanging open slightly, and had not noticed that the small quarrel had ended. Jerking herself back to her senses, Uma said, "Alrighty then. If you will all follow me, I will show you where you are all assigned." The two teams were in adjacent sections towards the end of the tent: they were three sections from the back. As Wendy, Levy, Gajeel, and a grumpy looking Juvia went into the section on the right, Natsu, Gray, Erza and lastly, Lucy walked into the section on the left. As soon as they walked in, a screen covered the way they had come in, blocking any means of escape.

"What's up with this, Erza? This is totally unfair. I mean, I love a good competition like the next guy, but I had stuff I wanted to do today," Natsu complained as he grudgingly sat on one of the several boxes that were in their section with them. "Like what, flame-brain," Gray asked him as he leant against the frame of the tent. At this, Natsu looked startled at being asked his plans, and hesitated to answer. Before he could, Erza, who had placed herself on top of another box nearby, interrupted their discussion. "Look, I know that some of you probably don't like the fact I joined us all into a competition without your permission-"

"You got that right," Gray interjected, already forgetting about the question he had asked Natsu.

"I did it as a favour to Jellal," Erza continued. Lucy was just about to ask the red haired mage how Jellal came into all of this, but she barely had the time to blink when both males where asking too many questions at the same time.

"What the hell has Jellal got to do with this?!"

"Wait, he isn't here, is he?"

"Where is he? I need to beat the crap out of him."

"He better not be trying to mess around with you again"

"I'm gonna-"

"SHUT IT!" Lucy yelled at the two of them, her expression easily befitting one of Erza's death glares. Both boys closed their mouths and sat down at the same time, forgetting that Lucy also had a frightening side to her, their forgetfulness evident in their expressions. Lucy exhaled a deep sigh, already feeling a headache coming because of those two, before she spoke. "So how come Jellal asked you to get us all to take part in the competition?" Lucy asked Erza as she sat down on the last box in the section.

Erza took a while, trying to formulate the best way to explain, before she spoke. "As I came back from my morning jog, I saw the signs for the competition so went to the front desk to inquire about it. On my way to the hotel, Jellal stopped me and told me about an ex-dark guild member that is on the island. Apparently Crime Sorcière has reasons to suspect that their guy is still with the guild they are trying to disband. Although they are not sure what the guild is up to, they know they have a team competing in the competition, though I'm unsure of their motive for doing this." Erza paused as she recollected her thoughts. "Jellal asked if we would keep an eye on the guild member, in case they try to do something, and so that they wouldn't get suspicious, he asked me to get us into the competition as a cover up so they don't realise what we're doing."

"How are we supposed to know who this guy is, and what dark guild is this anyway?" Gray asked, his eyes narrowed in suspiciousness at this information Jellal had given Erza. Erza pulled out a scrap of paper from her pocket and handed it to Gray. Immediately, Lucy and Natsu leant in on either side of Gray to get a closer look at paper, on which a mug shot of the person that they were to keep an eye out for. When the two did this, Lucy noticed Gray tense ever so slightly, which was weird, but she shook it off as she concentrated on the picture.

It was clear that the photo had been taken in secret, as the guy in the photo was only partially visible, a tree in inconveniently placed so that it covered the right side of his figure. Luckily the majority of his face was in view. He looks normal enough, Lucy thought, in fact, if he wasn't a criminal, I'd say he's pretty cute. The guy had a slim, well outlined and chiselled face; his icy grey hair was full of volume, some of it sticking up in odd directions, though it looked more deliberate than messy. But what really caught Lucy's attention was his eyes; they were the deepest of icy blues, so intense and yet so gentle at the same time. The fact that Lucy felt like this about him from just a picture intrigued, yet frightened her to imagine what seeing him in real life would be like.

When Gray handed Erza the photo back, Lucy snapped out of her slight hypnotic state she had been in from looking into the guys pictured eyes. Just as Erza placed the photo back in her pocket, a member of staff appeared from behind the screen. "Fairy Tail Team A. We are starting in ten minutes. Please get changed into your team clothes, which are inside the crate marked 'clothing'", the staff member said briskly before walking back out in a snappish manner, the screen closing behind him; he was nowhere near as friendly as Uma, it seemed. Erza, who was the nearest to the crate, opened it with slight enthusiasm before dispatching clothes to each member of their team. Each of them were given a dark purple t-shirt with "Fairy Tail: Team A" written on the backs. There were also some matching hoodies, but seeing as it was such a warm day, they saw no point in wearing those, so left them in the crate.

They had barely gotten changed and settled back down when an announcer spoke through the speakers above their heads. "Competitors! The competition is to start in t-minus one minute. Please line up and face the green dot." As soon as the announcer finished speaking, a bright green dot appeared on the tent wall opposite the screen that they had come through. They had lined up, Erza at the front, Gray behind her, then Lucy, and finally Natsu bringing up the rear. Soon, the speakers began to blare a countdown. "Ten… nine… eight…" "Hurry up already," Natsu complained behind Lucy, who turned around, smirking. "What's with the creepy face Luce?" Natsu asked, noticing her stare. "Oh, nothing. I just find it funny how you can't wait to get out there, when barely ten minutes ago you were moaning about not wanting to do this. Talk about being contradicting," Lucy said grinning.

"…two…one." A bell started ringing, signalling for the tent wall where the green dot was to reel upwards, permitting the team to see the outside once more. Erza didn't wait to be told what to do, and so pursued forward. Ropes were placed on either side of them, keeping each team in their line. The sunlight momentarily blinded Lucy, but her ears were still fine to pick up the loud cheers that the audience were crying as they made their way forward. "GO NATSU! GO LUCY!" cried Happy from the sides, making Lucy smile. By the time Lucy's eyes had gotten used to the brightness, she barely managed to avoid bumping into Gray; Natsu however, who's attention was aimed at Happy, walked straight into her, causing a domino effect as Lucy fell into Gray, who then fell into Erza, making a small pile on the sand. Some audience members started laughing at them in a good hearted way, though a certain feline's sniggering was clearly audible above everyone else. Lucy glared at Happy before feeling slight coolness as the suns rays were being blocked by Natsu. Looking up, Lucy saw that Natsu had his hand out for her to take, which she did. "Watch where you're going, dummy," Gray growled as he helped Erza to her feet.

Dusting off the sand from her clothes, Lucy straightened up when a person began to speak through a microphone. Looking over to see who it was that was speaking; Lucy was a little surprised to see that it was Uma. "Alrighty! Welcome everyone to the annual Akane Resorts Summer Games! We are super delighted that you could all come today to watch the fun, thrills and entertainment that will be taking place over the next three days!"

"Three days?!" Lucy, Gray and Natsu said in synchronisation.

"Alrighty! So, for those of you who are new to the games, I will tell you the overview of what the games are about. So, this year's teams will be competing against each other in various tasks in the hopes to become the overall victors! The winners will get the wonderful prize of free passes to Akane Resort for a whole month, all expenses paid! But not only that, the winners will also be awarded 1000 jules in prize money!" At this, Lucy's eyes gleamed just a little. My rent money will be sorted for the next year with that!

"Each team will battle it out in various games, no two alike. Some games will require all team members, some will only require one or two, so team work is a necessity in these games. Points are awarded to not only the best team, but to the best team workers, the best use of magical skills, and the team that woos the crowd." At this, the audience started to cheer once more. It sounds easy enough, Lucy thought, feeling a bit better about these games. "Buuut, there is a catch with each game, so when choosing who plays each game, make sure to remember about this, because it might just be the catch that gets you." Okay, now that doesn't sound ominous at all.

"Alrighty. So without further ado, let's get the games started!"

Hi guys,

I am so sorry about how long it has taken for this chapter to come out. I know I'm a terrible author. My only reason is because I'm a huge procrastinator (and it was the summer so I was busy with that, and then with college. Still that's no excuse, I know. I'M SORRY!)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's all slowly starting to fall into place. I'm still unsure of whether or not to bring in a love triangle between Gray, Lucy and Natsu, but if I do it won't be the main plot of the story, just a small thing that would probably only take up a chapter or two. If you think I should/shouldn't do this, let me know; I want to write something that you will all enjoy reading, not just something that I enjoy.

I hope you all enjoy how the story is going so far, and I promise that there will be some serious NaLu moments happening very soon!

Thank you to everyone that has already followed and favorited this story. It means a lot to me. I promise to be more productive with this story!

Alrighty! If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear from you.

See you guys next time,

AnimeTookMySoul