Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
Worries of a female Fairy Tail mage never stops. Now that Juvia has her rent covered for the next couple of months, Juvia is anxious about the up and coming 'Harvest Festival' next week, more specifically, the 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest'. Should Juvia participate this year? Juvia was well received last time, and Laxus-san isn't going to be pulling the same stunt as last time. But Juvia joined in the contest to impress Gray-san. Now, Juvia isn't trying to win Gray-san over, so she doesn't have much reason to join in. Juvia's eyes wandered towards a pink pillow on her couch and thought up of Natsu. No! Now isn't the time for daydreaming!
All of Juvia's friends is joining in so, won't it be weird if Juvia didn't go? But Juvia isn't as pretty as the others…she would just lose. Juvia rolled around on her bed for a while, weighing her options. Two knocks on Juvia's door announced that someone was there.
"Juvia? It's Laki, Master said he has an announcement to make, so come to the guild at nine."
"Okay!" Juvia has about an hour until the gathering time, so Juvia continued contemplating her decision on 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest'.
All of us were gathered at the guild hall, it really was an impressive sight, Master was standing on a railing looking down on us.
"Alright you brats! As you know, Fairy Tail hasn't had a good Harvest Festival in seven years, this year, we're bringing it back. We must make this a good one. We have the benefit of riding on our Grand Magic Games victory, people our expecting us to make it a good festival. To help us make this year extra special, there will be a few changes.
"First, aside from the usual 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest' and 'Fantasia Parade', there will be a new event. One that was created by Laxus: Battle of Fairy Tail!" The guild hall became loud with whispers and gossip. To be honest, Juvia wasn't too sure about this either, Juvia doesn't have the fondest memories of the last battle.
"Silence!" Erza-san calmed the hall down with fear. "Master isn't finished."
"Thank You. I know the last one wasn't for good purposes." Master gave a stern look to Laxus-san. "However, we can make this year a great one. Instead of a battle royal, it will be a tournament. Anyone Fairy Tail member can join, but only eight members may compete, first come, first serve. The winner will get five hundred thousand Jewels and a chance to fight against a S-class wizard. If you want to that is.
"You can either knock out your opponent or have them forfeit, the arena that you fight in will be announced later. The results of this tournament will go into evaluating the candidates for the S-class trials. Any questions?" Natsu put his hands. "Yes Natsu?"
"Can you sign me up now?"
"No problem. Mira, mark it down." Mira-san started to write something on a sheet of paper. The guild escalated into a roar of complaints.
"Just like that!?"
"I did say first come, first serve."
"I'm all fire up now! Happy, we're going to train!"
"Aye!" Happy-san took Natsu out of the guild and they disappeared behind the guild doors."
"I wasn't done yet…" Master rubbed his temple. "Anyway…besides adding a tournament, people from Saber Tooth will be helping us make this festival a success."
"Master," Gajeel-kun raised his hands. "Will they get to join in the tournament? Also, if Salamander is in this, count me in gi hi."
"Very good, Mira, add Gajeel to the list. And no, Saber Tooth won't be joining. They will however, have an exhibition match with one of our members. As for who, we haven't decided yet. Anyone else that wants to join, please come to my office. Until then, dismissed!" The crowd formed into small groups of people chatting about the announcement Master had made, Juvia could see several people lining up to Master's office, Gray-san, Elfman-san, Freed-san and a few others that was blocked off by the sea of heads. For now, Juvia just went back to Fairy Hills.
Juvia is more confused than ever, maybe Juvia should just help out in the parade. Juvia should take a walk.
Juvia's walk took her to the forest. Caked with dead leaves, each step Juvia took made a crisp, crunching sound, clearing Juvia's mind of her needless thoughts. Wearing a pearly coat, Juvia walked through the forest, watching the leaves flutter to the ground. Juvia found a dirt path that she tread on many things during her time tailing Natsu. Might as well visit him…
Reaching the house, Juvia found no one, both outside and inside. Then Juvia saw a pillar of flames shoot up which quickly dissipated, a gust of warm wind followed after the spectacle. When Juvia got to the source of the flames, Juvia came across a flat area free of grass and leaves. Several training dummies lined up in a row, all burnt, if not charred, they looked untouched for years. At the foot of the dolls, signs with childish handwriting—faded from the years—stood. They read 'Erza, Gray, Laxus, Gildarts and Mira' in that order. At the centre of the training area, was a massive crater, fire was still present, Juvia can feel the heat from here. Getting to the rim of the crater, Juvia saw Natsu laying down without a top, breathing heavily and Happy-san floating next to him. They were saying something, but the crackling of fire made it hard to hear, so Juvia slid down to the centre.
"Natsu, you should take a break, aren't you hungry?"
"I can…still go on…" Natsu sat up. "But I guess a snack wouldn't hurt. Happy, can ya get me some food from the house?"
"Aye sir!" Happy-san was flying out of the crater when he spotted Juvia." Juvia, what are you doing here? Are you scouting out your opponent?"
"No, Juvia was taking a walk and decided to give you two a visit since Juvia was in the area."
"Then make sure Natsu doesn't do thing stupid for me, he likes to push himself behind my back."
"Yes!" Natsu stood up with shaky legs.
"Now that Happy is gone, let's try this again."
"Please don't burn Juvia while you're at it."
"Juvia! When were you here?"
"Just now. What were you doing?"
"Training."
"Too recklessly! Rest up like Happy-san said. You might get better results that way."
"But I only have a week left." Natsu whined. "How am I supposed to beat Erza if I keep resting just because I'm a little tired?"
"Even Asuka-chan can take you down like this." Juvia lightly pushed Natsu's forehead, his legs instantly gave way and plummeted him to the ground.
"Ouch! What did you do that for!?"
"Also, if Erza-san could be beaten after a week of training, then you would've won a long time ago."
"What else can I do? I don't have the time."
"Natsu, you're not being yourself." That got a reaction from the stubborn man.
"Leave me alone." Natsu turned away from Juvia.
"Weren't you the one that said Fairy Tail will be there for you? Tell Juvia what's wrong."
"Natsuuu! I got some fish!"
"Oooh Happy! Thanks." Natsu took the fish out of Happy-san's paws, cooked them and started to devour them.
"Seeeee! You were hungry, what did I say?" Natsu kept quiet, he didn't even give a stubborn answer.
"Natsu, don't use your meal as an excuse to run away from Juvia's question." Natsu's mouth stopped eating. "What. Is! Wrong?"
"Nothing…"
"If Juvia can't help you, Juvia can ask Erza-san or Mira-san to help you."
"I not strong enough…" Silence told him to keep going. "Since we came back from that job, something has been bothering me. If I was stronger, I didn't have to make you worry, you wouldn't have got hurt. It's just like when Lisanna left us. If I wasn't weak, Mira might've taken me to help her, Lisanna wouldn't have to leave her family for so long, Mira and Elfman wouldn't have cried.
"Every time I thought I got strong, people I care for keeps getting hurt. What if next time, I won't be so lucky? What if because of my weakness, someone gets killed—"
"Isn't that why we form teams? You told Juvia that Fairy Tail will always support Juvia, family will always help each other right? Then, you don't need to worry."
"That's different!"
"How is it!? We are weak by nature! That's why we form bonds, to help each other. Even Gildarts-san has moments of powerlessness, we can't do everything alone, so don't try to take all the burden by yourself. Depend on us! Depend on Juvia!"
"That's right Natsu, we always got your back. So turn back to the stupid Natsu I know!" Happy shouted
"Who's Stupid!?"
"You are!" "Natsu is!" Natsu's expression when through a sequence of changes, from anger to shocked. Then from shocked to acceptance. Finally, to the same grin he proudly showed the world.
"I really have been retarded, haven't I?"
"Just a bit more than usual."
"Hey!" Natsu dove his hands into Happy-san bag, pulled out a fish and swallowed it whole.
"My fishhhh! Why did you do that?" Happy-san and Natsu butted heads.
"For making fun of me!"
"I always do that! How is that any different?" The two pulled at each other's cheeks, stretching them as far as they could go. Where did Natsu suddenly get all this energy? He could barely stand a minute ago! Suddenly, Happy flew behind Juvia's back. "Juviaaa! Natsu is bullying me! Beat him up for me."
"Hey! Don't hide behind her you coward! Come fight me like a man!"
"I'm a cat!"
"Then, fight me like a man-cat!"
"That doesn't make any sense! Stupid Natsu!"
"That's enough! Natsu needs to rest. Juvia will solve Natsu's hunger! Happy-san don't provoke him any further."
"Aye…"
A quick meal later, Natsu was back to energetic spirts, for better or for worse. Juvia was washing the dishes when Natsu came up behind Juvia.
"So did you join the tournament yet?"
"No, why?
"Why not! You're pretty strong, I would love to fight you!"
"To be honest, Juvia isn't sure if Juvia will participate in anything besides the parade…"
"Not even the contest?"
"No."
"That's a shame, you did really well last time, third place wasn't it?"
"Yes, but, Juvia has no reason to join in this year?"
"Why?" Juvia finished wiping the dishes and placed them on the counter.
"Gray-san has a girlfriend."
"But you looked cool up on the stage."
"You think so?"
"Of course!"
"But Juvia isn't as good as the others."
"What are you saying? You look super pretty!" Heat travelled to Juvia's cheeks. Natsu, you shouldn't say these things so casually.
"Would Natsu go and support Juvia if she joins?"
"That's what family is for." Natsu…maybe you aren't as dumb as Juvia thinks you are. "Well, I support everyone up there. Pretty sure everyone else does that, especially the guys, they cheer so loudly my ears hurt every time someone walks on stage." Juvia takes that back.
"Natsu, I was wrong for thinking differently of you. Natsu is Natsu after all…"
"What do you mean by that!?" Juvia just might join in the fray after all…
"But Thank You, you cleared Juvia's mind."
"No problem!"
"Juvia needs to prepare for the contest, see you there Natsu. Juvia will be rooting for at the tournament!"
"Yeah!"
Harvest Festival is here! The streets of Magnolia were packed with people. High quality farmed produce sat in stalls of proud farmers. Other stores showed their wares. Most people however, was heading to Fairy Tail's hall. The 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest' is about to start!
Juvia is in the back-stage preparing for her performance. Men kept piling in the guild hall. Natsu was easy to spot out with his pink hair, even if he wasn't in the front row. He was shoving several grilled squid in his mouth. Sitting in the same row, was the other males of Fairy Tail, hushing Max-san to start the show. It wasn't until a few minutes later did everyone get a place to sit or stand.
"Thank You for your patience! This years 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest' will start right now!" Cheers reined the guild hall. "This year, we got a lot of great candidates this year, so without further ado, here is the first contestant! We got a beauty with rich skin, someone that in known for drinking but this striking lady is here to take the crown. Ladies and gentlemen give a round of applause fooor, Cana Alberona!"
Cana-san strutted on stage wearing a blue bikini. The crowd roared in approval. Cana-san threw some cards up in the air.
"Here's some service for you!" The card wizard declared. The cards exploded in white light, blinding the stage for a brief moment. Once the light faded, three Cana-san was posing up on stage!
"Oh my!" Max-san started. "Cana has duplicated herself and tripled her appeal!" The Cana-san in the middle blew an air kiss to the crowd. As expected, Cana-san is going to be hard to be. If this isn't Fairy Tail, she might have already won. But, Juvia will not lose!
"For the next contestant the embodiment of big surprises coming in small packages, her cute and small stature has won the hearts of many people in the guild! Please welcome, Levy McGarden!" A ball made of Solid Script rolled in. It had lots of bright colour with words like flower, ice, and thunder written on the ball. "What's this? Levy's magic encased her in an array of colours, what will happen now?"
"Is everyone ready?" Levy-san manipulated the crowd into a torrent of cheers. "Then…" The ball busted open, revealing Levy-san wearing a cheerleader's outfit holding pom-poms and striking a cute pose. "Tah dah!" The crowd had another heated response, which even retained as Levy-san left the stage. Another tough opponent…
"The next lady just speaks of high-class! A woman with bewitching eyes, the self-proclaimed Fairy Queen! Welcome! Evergreen!"
"What do you mean 'Self-proclaimed'!? I AM the Fairy Queen!" Evergreen-san flew to the stage wearing her usual expensive green clothes with a brown fur coat. Evergreen-san took to the skies, using her magic to create floating balls of light all the while dancing elegantly. The masses cheered the moment Evergreen-san stopped. The performance was strong, but Juvia can beat it.
"Next, is a first-time participant of Miss Fairy Tail! Like Levy, she is small and has the kindness of an angel! Our guild's sky dragon slayer! Give a warm welcome to Wendy Marvel!" No one came out… "Ehh? Wendy! Take the stage!"
"S—sorry!" Wendy-san wearing pure white tunic and sandals came running up on stage, her twin-tails bouncing up and down. "I was worried that my hair was—" Somehow, Wendy-san tripped and planted her face on the ground. The crowd watched in silence as Wendy-san picked herself up. "Ouch…ahh! This is my first time, please go easy on me." Wendy-san bowed, drawing loud cheers "Then, please enjoy!" White wings sprouted from Wendy-san back. Using magic, Wendy-san floated to the air. The angel twirled twice, before bending forward slightly and hiding her hands behind her back. "Please tell me where it hurts, I'll make it go away!" Wendy-san put on an angelic smile that radiated of purity and innocence. Ear-bursting cheers echoed the throughout the guild hall, louder than any of the other performances. That's when Juvia realised. Juvia's biggest opponent was cuteness!
Thank You for reading! I hope the Miss fairy tail thing isn't too much for you. If so let me know and I'll cut some performances out in the next chapter.
This chapter took so long to write! Mainly because the talk between Natsu and Juvia was kind of weird until I changed it many times to the form you see now.
What did you think of how I took the Harvest Festival? This is the only reason why most of the chapters were in Autumn by the way. That and I like Autumn.
Thanks for your support! I look forward to your feedback!