Hi! I'm alive! And I'm here with a new chapter! I've had writer's block on this for a while, but after posting a chapter of OMoT, I decided to write this and post as well! It's short, but better than nothing, right? XD

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Please don't kill me.


"A boat race?" Natsu said. "I thought it was a car race."

"Yeah, me too," Midori sighed.

"Guess this means we have to go!" Gray said with a grin.

"Hold it," she said. "I'm doing this race. Boat controls shouldn't be too different from car controls."

"Wait," Lucy frowned. "Isn't it on a dam?"

"Yup!" Midori grinned maniacally. "We get to go off and through the dam!"

"That's terrifying…"

"Is it legal?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, they built the dam so that daredevils like myself can go off. It sounds like a lot of fun!" Lucy slowly edged away. This woman was probably the root of Natsu's own madness. "Anyway, I found a boat to use. It's a simple boat, but the owner has promised to show me the controls later. Evidently, there's this thing called 'boost' that basically is their equivalent of nitro. He said that boosting just as you land helps you to recover faster from dropping over fifty feet. It's created by running over lacrima that fill up my boost tank. Simple enough, right?"

"Are we able to watch?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah. There's a camera in front of the cockpit. It doesn't obscure my view, and it lets you see everything. This is going to be great!"

Unfortunately, Midori was put in the very last spot because she was a late entry. Oh well. She'd get into first.

3…. 2…. 1… Go! Midori slammed her foot onto the gas and jerked forward, already well on her way to hitting dangerous levels of speed on a track she wasn't familiar with. There! A boost lacrima. Neatly sliding between another racer, a dead tree sticking out of the water, and the cliff wall, she hit the boost. The boat shuddered underneath her and shifted to reveal a section of the engine. Oookay then, she decided.

Midori was noticeably faster when in the wakes of other racers, which was incredibly useful. Unfortunately, she thought grimly as she glanced in her rearview mirror, this applies for other people as well. Gently placing her foot on the boost and pressing, Midori was incredibly impressed.

"The boost is amazing!" she shouted. A crazed grin covered her face as she boosted past three other racers. Five more left. "Wait, why are those danger signs right at the end of the traaaaaaAAAACK!"


"Oh no!" Happy cried as Midori went off the edge of the track. Her scream of surprise quickly turned into one of delight as she nose dived into the water. Her boat bobbed back up, still speeding ahead and passing two other people in mid air. Natsu shouted victoriously as Erza crushed Gray in a hug. Lucy, who was holding the screen, stared in amazement as Midori weaved her way around the obstacles and passed another racer, who cursed violently.

"And then late entry number ten is now in third place!" the announcer shouted, clearly surprised. "This newcomer has impossible jumped from tenth to third - no, second, ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing a true prodigy. Number ten hasn't even been behind a wheel before, and she's already beating most of our regulars!"

"Come on, Midori," Natsu muttered.


"This was the best idea ever!" Midori screamed with laughter as she weaved through the tight turns of the dam, nose to nose with the last one. They were both boosting all they could without losing it. It was going to be close. That lacrima looks odd… The obvious solution was to run it over.

A ramp lifted out of the water. Shoving the boost on full blast, Midori shot up and landed on the second floor. She hit two more strangely colored lacrima, filling her boost tank even further, and went flying out, jarring her body as she landed. "Did I win?"

She popped the hatch and looked around. She… won! Midori actually hadn't expected that! And there was Natsu on the bank, waving madly at her with his familiar grin on his face. Midori touched the old mark on her wrist, a fond smile overtaking her. Oh, Natsu...


... I ship it. *ba dum tiss* Review please, and tell me what you think!