well uh hey! is been awhile i know. almost a year! it has certainly been too long and to be completely honest, i didnt really have an excuse as to why i didnt update. i just... didnt. anyways, ill try and finish this up soon. id like to thank everyone who has followed this story and has left some very nice reviews. anyways, on with the chapter!

The next morning I awoke with a sudden barrage of loud knocks at the door. Sitting up and groggily looking over at the clock next to the bed to read a bit past seven in the morning and I groaned inwardly to myself, it's too damn early.

"Natsu!" a powerful feminine voice shouted at the door, "It's the last day of the Games, wake up!"

Before I had the opportunity to get up and make my way to the door, it flew off its hinges banging loudly into the opposite of the room. The re-quip mage stood standing in the doorway with arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

Next to me I heard a low whine and saw a head of messy pink hair peek out from the covers and blink in Erza's direction, "What? What time is it?" he asked rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Time to get up," the red-haired woman said simply, walking over to the bed and grabbing Natsu by the back of his shirt hauling him out of the bed, "Go take a shower and be downstairs in thirty minutes," tossing him on the ground with a soft thud and a groan of pain.

Still sitting in bed I ran a hand through my bed head and yawned, "Just wondering, but why are you here so early?"

"Orders from the master," she said simply, "he wanted to talk to the team before the last event."

Nodding in acknowledgement and glancing down at the floor where the fire mage should have been only to see him stumbling over to his bag and grabbing his clothes for the last day. He looked over at me and flicked his eyes over at Erza and rolling his eyes and then turning to head to the shower.

Trying to hold back the smile on my lips Erza walked over to me and loomed over me threateningly, "What did you do to him?"

"What? Nothing! We just shared the bed, I swear that's it," I could feel her glare lessening but not leaving completely, "We just slept, I promise."

Sighing and closing her eyes only to reopen them with a serious look, "I believe you, but if you hurt a hair on his head I will not hesitate to take action," with that she turned around and left the room without another glance.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding in and got up from the bed to head for my bag for a spare change of clothes. Hesitating to change only to remember that the door had been all but blown off its hinges. Heading over to the discarded door I picked it up and leant it against one of the walls. There was a large indent where it had crashed into the wall and the door frame was falling apart in some places. That woman is a monster.

Sighing again, it's too damn early for this. Hearing the shower start up startled me from my stupor and I went back to retrieve my change of clothes, changing relatively quickly to avoid getting caught by other mages passing by. I had grabbed a dark blue V-neck and a pair of jeans and socks, running a hand through my hair I went to grab my boots that had somehow not been knocked over by the door being forcefully thrown off its frame.

"Hey Natsu, hurry your ass up!"

I turned and faced the open door, stretching my arms over my head.

"Oh it's just you," Gray mumbled once we made eye contact, "Where's Natsu? And what the hell happened to the door?"

"He just went to take a shower," walking over and taking a seat on the couch and turning the TV on, only to see a recap of the overall Games on, "And as for the door, I guess we didn't wake up fast enough for Erza."

Grunting in response Gray took a seat next to me on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table in front of us. We sat in an awkward silence on the couch together, I would occasionally glace over to look at him, and he seemed to be set on not making eye contact with me at all costs.

"After this is over I don't want you around Natsu," he stated, breaking the silence.

"What?"

"You heard me," he turned glaring at me, "Stay away from Natsu."

Before I had a chance to respond I heard the bathroom door open and Natsu walked out. I didn't even hear the shower stop.

"Gray! Why the hell are you here? Are you gonna yell at me like Erza did?" he pointed an accusing finger at Gray.

"No, I came up to wait for you to hurry your slow ass up, the Master wants to see us," the ice mage said sitting up from the couch and heading to the doorway, "Let's go before you get both of us in trouble with Erza."

"Are you coming down with us Sting?" I heard the other dragon slayer ask me.

A quick glance in Grays direction was more than enough of an answer, "I'll head down in a little bit, if I don't see you two before the Games good luck out there."

"Oh," the fire mage stated sounded a bit disappointed by the answer given, "Yeah! We'll see you later, thanks!"

The two Fairy Tail mages made their way over to the door and made their way out. Huffing out a breath I sunk back into the couch as I heard the footsteps retreating. What the hell was that about? First Erza nags me about Natsu and now Gray? Although the two seemed to have different intentions.

Standing up I made my way over to the small bathroom to splash some cold water on my face in an attempt to wake myself up. Did Gray somehow figure out I liked Natsu? Even so, that wouldn't explain why he would act like this. Unless… oh.

Unless Gray liked Natsu too. Leaning over the sink seeing the excess water that didn't already run off my face drip into the sink. Great, now the ice mage thinks I'm trying to steal Natsu away from him, or the guild, or whatever he's thinking. Or he and Natsu are already an item? Standing upright I look in the mirror and make an attempt to fix my hair before heading downstairs.

Walking out of the bathroom and taking a quick look at the clock seeing it's a little past eight in the morning. The Games don't start until noon so if I wanted to I could go back to sleep for a few hours but I would rather not risk sleeping through the games.

Heading towards the doorway I make my way downstairs in hope of getting some breakfast and some coffee in hopes of clearing my mind of the many thoughts plaguing my head.

"Oh, good morning Sting!" I heard the white haired barmaid greet me.

"Morning Mira," I greeted back with a small smile.

"I certainly hope Erza didn't scare you too bad this morning, she can be a little over the top sometimes," she said setting down a fresh cup of coffee in front of me.

"Thanks, and it was more of a surprise than anything," taking a sip of the hot drink, "I didn't exactly expect to be woken up by the door being kicked down."

The white haired mage laughed a bit and turned around to start making a plate of pancakes.

"Sting-kun!"

"Hey Lector, Frosch," I said turning to the two Exceeds next to me and taking another drink of coffee, "Where have you guys been?"

"We were with Rogue," Lector replied, "You've seen awfully busy with Natsu-kun lately, Sting-kun," the Exceed said with a slightly knowing look in his big eyes.

Nearly choking on the coffee I tried to drink, "I-I, what?" I sputtered unintelligently, "What are you talking about?" I said in a more hushed voice.

"He's saying you've been around Natsu a lot," Rogue answered flatly.

"Yeah! You two practically went on a date last night!"

"Lector shut up! You're too loud!" I said covering the cats mouth, "It wasn't a date, Natsu just wanted me to show him around Crocus."

"So, a date then?" Mirajane said, cutting in and setting down a stack of pancakes in front of me with a large smile on her face. She took the almost empty cup and refilled it to the top with coffee, "I mean, that's what it looked like."

Removing my hand from Lectors furry face and mumbled out, "He doesn't even like me, so it wasn't a date," starting to dig into the food in front of me.

"Hmm, I really wonder about that," the take-over mage said off handedly.

"What?"

"Oh would you look at the time, I really must be going, the rest of the guild will be up soon!" she said and quickly made way to the kitchen.

Sitting with food in mouth I stared half expectantly that the woman would come back and explain herself. When I noticed that she wasn't coming back I continued to eat, with even more confusion than I started out with before coming down.

"Good afternoon Fiore!" the announcer said over the lacrima microphone, "Are you all ready for the final day of the Grand Magic Games!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd in the stands. Rogue and I were heading over with the remaining members of Fairy Tail to take place in the guild specific stands. Which were thankfully rather far from the Sabertooth ones.

Once into the coliseum I heard a voice yell out, "Hey guys!" turning to see a waving team Fairy Tail heading to the designated area, Natsu being the most enthusiastic. The fire mage said something to his team and Erza signed and nodded to him.

The pink haired male jogged over to where I was standing with a large smile on his face, "Hey! Sorry I didn't get to say anything the morning," he scratched the back of his head, "Gramps kept us a lot long than expected, it's good to see you with everyone else."

"It's not a problem, I know how the games get in the last few days," I said returning the smile, "Good luck today, there's no doubt that you guys will win.

"Of course we will!" the fire mage said with much excitement, "You'll be up there cheering for us right?" he asked a bit quieter.

"Yeah definitely, Rogue and everyone else will be too," I said patting his shoulder.

"Hey Salamander! Stop talking to your boyfriend we gotta go!" Gajeel shouted over at us.

Natsu's face lit up with a bright blush as he turned around to yell back, "Shut up Gajeel!" turning back to me with blush still in place, "Sorry, I gotta go!"

Before I got a chance to respond he already had run off to join the other members of his team, not that I could even think of a proper response at the time. I could see Gajeel and Natsu arguing still and Erza trying to break it up. Gray glanced over to me with a harsh glare and walked off.

"Sting lets go," the shadow dragon slayer said, startling me.

"Yeah, sure."

The walk to the Fairy Tail stands with Rogue was a quiet one, my thoughts mostly going to what Mira and Gajeel had said today. Maybe they were just messing with me, but the lingering bit of hope in the back of my head wished that they really weren't.

Once in the stand the cheering seemed to increase ten-fold, disrupting my thoughts and feeling the anticipation rid the rest of them as I got closer to the railing and leaned on it. Taking a glance at the Sabertooth stands was a mistake as I could see next to all of my former guild mates glaring daggers at Rogue and me.

Turning away quickly to focus more on the center of the arena just in time to hear the announcer start announcing the guilds from last to first place, the cheers increasing in volume as he continued.

"And finally in first place," a dramatic pause, "Fairy Tail!"

The crowd erupted and I felt a content smile slip onto my face as the Fairy Tail members cheered around me. It really was a great atmosphere, it felt almost like a family, almost the polar opposite of Sabertooth.

"Today the participants will not be battling in the coliseum, rather the battle ground is all of Crocus!" the announcer spoke after the cheers had died down a considerable amount, "Their fights will be broadcast via lacrima vision."

An all-out battle royale will take over the streets of Crocus, an interesting choice. Off handedly I wonder how they would possibly afford all the repairs but I decided I didn't care all that much. I look over to see Rogue and the Exceeds with an excited look on their faces. It was to be expected from the cats but seeing Rogue excited about not participating was a shock.

"We'll now be starting up the lacrima vision to let everyone get a good look at the teams participating," right after he said so six screens popped up in the middle of the arena showing the groups standing together in different areas of Crocus.

The man announcing the event today began going into the rules but I didn't pay much mind to it, I was more focused on the large artificial image of Natsu. He had a large grin on his face and almost seemed to be shaking with excitement. The Gajeel on screen said something to the pink haired mage and it made him turn and glare at the taller mage, who only smirked in response.

Taking a glance at the Sabertooth screen to see who would be filling the place of Rogue and myself, one of them was Dobengal and the other I didn't recognize. He was probably some backup mage that they had.

"The final event of this year's Grand Magic Games will be starting," a pause, "Now!"

With that the members took off without a hitch, dispersing into several directions, besides Fairy Tail? Why aren't they moving?

"Gramps! Why aren't they going? Did they not hear the announcement?" the young boy next to me asked.

Master Makarov chucked and replied, "They heard it alright, and this is our strategy!" he looked over to the boy, "With the help of the First we came up with a strategy that would give us the highest amount of points based on statistics and percentages."

The First? Oh well, whatever. I looked back up at the screen to see that they still haven't moved. It was making me nervous, but I trusted that the Fairy Tail Master knew what he was doing. I started hearing murmuring around in the crowd and shouts telling them to move. I sure hope this works.

I began seeing the first of the encounters on screen which all ended relatively quickly, and the point were adding up. After waiting for a bit it seemed almost on a schedule the Fairy Tail mages took off in various directions. Shouts from the audience escalated when they finally got going.

The fights took off rather quickly between the Fairy Tail mages and the rest of the participating guilds, quickly gaining back their lead. A large smile appeared on my face as Natsu gained another point for his team, he quickly gave a thumbs up to the lacrima camera and continued on his, what seemed to be, set path.

"They're doing well," I heard Rogue mention.

"Yeah, they gained the lead back rather quickly," I responded, smile still on my face.

"Yes, but the Lady is still out there along with Jura and Kagura," he frowns a bit, "It won't be an easy win."

A sigh escapes my lips, "Way to ruin my mood," I tease. He just huffs in response.

"They'll win," I heard the Master say confidently, "If those kids know anything, they know they have to win, no matter the cost."

I look over at him, and nod. That's sure true, if I've learned anything these past few days, it would be that. I smile again as I see another point go up in their score.

"Oh! What is this? It seems to be that Erza has encountered Kagura!"

"What? The prediction was off?" Makarov asked shock filling his voice.

"Who was it supposed to be?" Rogue questioned.

The old man sighed, "It was supposed to be Minerva, this could prove to be problematic."

I looked back up at the screen to see Erza and Kagura trading swords, they were both so strong. Kagura didn't even have her sword unsheathed and was proving to be a challenge.

On another screen Orga had encountered Laxus and Jura but had been taken care of rather quickly which left the other two to battle it out. That fight didn't seem to draw my attention so much as the fight between the two sword wielding mages.

"What! Minerva has entered the fray!" one of the judges shouted, "It's a three way battle between Kagura, Erza and now Minerva!"

This could end up being a crazy fight, I felt as if I was on the edge of my seat, like one wrong move could set off the tension in the arena. Their fight continued and Minerva left the scene after making a deal with the other two women, saying whoever won would challenge her in the end.

Glancing quickly to the other screens I could see Gray fighting Rufus and Laxus was still competing with Jura. Natsu and Gajeel seemed to have the short end of the stick, mostly wandering around and taking out a few of the other teams weaker mages that didn't provide much of a fight, they almost seemed bored.

Back at the fight between Kagura and Erza, there seems to be a stalemate of sorts. They were talking but it was hard to hear what they were saying even over the lacrima screens, the audience was making it hard to understand what they were saying. Erza had at this point said something that really set something off in Kagura, causing the dark haired mage to unsheathe her sword. The Fairy Tail mages along with the rest of the crowd seemed to be in awe by it.

Thankfully at this point Erza seemed to snap out of whatever haze she was in and decided to get serious, changing her armor and parrying Kagura's strike. It ended quickly after that with one strike from Erza, the other mage went down.

At this point Fairy Tail had gained a good five points from the end of the fight between Laxus and Jura, and another one point from Grays win over Rufus.

"I knew Erza could do it!" I heard one of the various people in the stands shout out and many sounds of acknowledgement came with. I could feel myself getting giddy from seeing the fight come to a close, but right as it was a large piece of ruble came falling down over the injured Kagura. Shouts of terror and shock resounded around the arena. When the dust cleared, the Mermaid Heel mage was unharmed but Erza was trapped under the fallen debris.

"What was she thinking!" I heard Lector shout, "She could have gotten herself killed by pulling a stunt like that!"

"Fro thinks so too."

"She made the right decision," Rogue chimed in, "Kagura would have most definitely been killed by a fall like that."

On screen Kagura was helping Erza out of the ruble and they shared a mutual nod. The small peace was short lived as Minerva showed back up with Kagura's sword in hand, stabbing through said mages stomach, Sabertooth getting the points.

I gasped at the brutality, "That's even low for her," I mumbled, Rogue nodded his head in agreement.

The action sent the re-quip mage into a fury, engaging Minerva. They exchanged blows for a few moments, and Erza having enough of it equipped a very intimidating set of armor.

"What is that armor?" I heard the announcer say.

The blue haired girl had at some point pulled out a book explaining the properties of the armor, Nakagami armor. It sounded crazy, having that much power. How strong is Fairy Tail really? Do they have no limits? Erza quickly disposed of Minerva in one slash, gaining five more points, coming to a total of sixty-four.

"With an overwhelming amount of power Titania Erza has won it for Fairy Tail!" everyone burst in to cheers and tears as well. I hadn't even noticed that the rest of the mages had been disposed of, "Fairy Tail won with all five members still standing! Amazing!"

The mages started all heading back to the arena for the awards ceremony. I couldn't help the smug look I shot over at the Sabertooth stands, only to receive a glare in response.

They all had made it back after about twenty minutes, Fairy Tail standing on the first place podium, Sabertooth on second place and Lamia Scale in third. They were all cheering and clapping, Natsu was smiling one of the brightest smiles I had ever seen.

"Sting stop staring," Rogue said smugly, "We're heading down to greet them I guess."

"Alright."

Heading down was chaos, many reporters and civilians were trying to get through to get the reactions from the winners and the other placing guilds. Once to the arena the Fairy Tail members all broke out into a sprint greeting them all. Rogue, the Exceeds and myself stood awkwardly behind them, not sure what to do.

After the mages dispersed a bit the reporters practically swooped in for photos and to try and ask questions. None of Sabertooth showed up to the awards ceremony, most likely shamed by their loss. After answering some questions the reporters finally left leaving just the mages in the arena.

Still standing behind I wondered if I should have just left, looking off to the side, I probably looked like a total loser.

"Hey! Sting!" I heard my name a looked up to see an over-ecstatic fire mage coming my way.

"Hey, you guys did great out there!" I half shouted over the commotion of the other members, "Congratulations, I knew you could do it," I smiled down at the other dragon slayer.

He smiled in response, "It was kinda lame though, I didn't get to fight anyone cool while I was out there," he huffed, "It was still fun though. How did I look? Did I look cool?" he grinned.

I nodded and laughed, "Yeah, you did, don't worry, maybe even cooler than you did in our fight" he mumbled something I couldn't quite hear over the noise, "What did you say? It's hard to hear in here."

"I said, you looked cool then too," a light pink was on his face and he looked off to the side.

"R-really? I didn't really think I looked that good getting my ass handed to me by you," I said with a chuckle.

"That isn't what I meant," the fire mage said with a frown.

"Yeah I know," I nudged his shoulder, "Don't worry about it, next time for sure I'll beat you."

That seemed to have changed the mood because he immediately started smiling again, "Ha! I'd like to see you try!"

A smile made its way onto my face as we started on our way back up to the lodgings with Natsu in tow. This would be the last time I'd be going there and I'm not sure how I felt about it. I looked over to the smiling pink mage who was loudly chatting with Happy and Lector. I decided no matter how short it was, it was totally worth spending time with him.

i honestly had no idea what to do with this chapter. it was necessary to have this one but im not happy with how it turned out, or ended really. i just wanted it to be done. sorry that there wasnt a whole lot of cutesy stuff in this chapter, i didnt think it would really fit in. thank you for reading! ill make sure to try and get the next chapters out a little faster than a year x)