A/N: only characters I own are Aria and Tessa.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Moving Forward

A couple of days passed since the night of Tessa's and Aria's first job together since joining Fairy Tail. What had been a very successful day, it had ended as a bitter night. Aria had disappeared for two days and Laxus had gotten a job to get out of town the next morning. Those that had been sober enough when the ordeal happened could only watch in silence the attitude of the two. Mira, the first person to fret over the possibility of a couple, had surprisingly kept her lips sealed. Natsu could only wonder what was going on since he had been rather preoccupied when everything happened.

When it had been a full day and night that she hadn't come back, Tessa was worried but couldn't find the pull to search for her. The last thing she wanted was to make things worse for her.

Gajeel had been understanding when she couldn't focus on their night training. He had surprised her by saying that maybe they should just relax. It caught Tessa off guard but then she understood he wanted to distract her thoughts. He was always able to notice when her mind wasn't fully in the training.

"I'm sure she's fine," he said as he laid on the cool grass with his arms behind his head, "She's tough. You don't have to worry so much."

Tessa brought her knees to her chest and sighed, "I kind of can't help it though. I could see all the signs that there could something be there. The guys she's dated before… they were douchebags."

He snorted, "Laxus is the definition of douchebag."

She couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, you're kind of right."

They stayed quiet for a while, just enjoying the midnight breeze when he suddenly broke the silence.

"Hey."

She looked away from the sky, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "Yeah?"

"You did look nice that night."

She felt herself reddening but she managed to give him a smile as her heart fluttered by his small compliment, "Thank you."

She went to look back up at the stars and she failed to notice the small smirk on his face and the side glance he gave her.

—

When Aria had come back, Gray had been the first one to approach her. However, all he got as a response was a deadly glare. Tessa did not bother to try, knowing well how Aria's temper could be, specially when she was silent.

It wasn't until Aria had come back to the guild a second time and saw everyone congratulating Wendy after doing her first 'solo' job, that things had taken an interesting turn. She had joined Tessa at the table of Team Natsu with others standing around the young girl as she told details of her mission. She was solely focusing on the bluenette and not once did she turn around where a certain blond sat. She was determined on avoiding him as much as possible. He had noticed that as soon as she had come in and that automatically had set him on an off mood as well.

Happy had his face on the table, not even bothering filling everyone in with his version. Aria could see that he was drained and miserable. Even Lucy couldn't get a reaction out of the blue cat. Natsu has tried offering fish as well but nothing. On the Thunder Legion table of the far side of the guild, she could see Evergreen and Bickslow trying to cheer up Freed.

Aria took in how the young dragon slayer tended to avoid jobs that dealt with anything combat related. It wasn't until the crowd had dispersed that Aria placed a hand on her cheek as support and stared curiously at the girl.

"Why don't you take any of the fighting missions? There's plenty on the request board that I'm sure you can handle."

Tessa stopped the smile that wanted to spread through her face. That had been the first time she had heard Aria say since she was back.

Wendy's brown eyes widened at her question and then meekly looked down at her hands as a blush appeared on her face.

Carla looked at her young partner and then at Aria haughtily , "She's a young child, she is not ready for such tasks. Besides, her magic relies solely on support magic."

Aria raised her eyebrow at her, clearly not bothered by her tone.

"She's a dragon slayer."

"Your point? She's a child! She is not there yet for something like that!"

Translation: She's weak, Aria thought as she mentally rolled her eyes. She then decided to just look at Wendy directly.

"What if you're on the job and you suddenly get attacked? All of your friends are down—are you going to stand there or do something to save them?"

Team Natsu instantly got flashbacks of the Oracion Seis situation.

"Your friends are not always going to be there," She continued, "It's good to support them, but it's even better that they can count on you that they won't get killed."

Wendy's eyes widened as the realization set in. It was true, she had felt utterly useless the moment all of her friends had fallen to the Oracion Seis when they had first encountered them. The young girl bit her lip and looked down at her hands again.

"I don't know how. I was still very young when Grandeeny left so she didn't teach me anything about fighting."

Lucy put an arm on her, "You destroyed one of the lacrimas in Nirvana! I know you can do it Wendy."

"We'll train you," Aria leaned in and pointed at herself and Tessa.

A hushed silence fell over the guild.

Carla's eyes widened, "What?!"

Erza nodded her head in agreement, "I can only do so much if I were to offer. It would be a good idea for you to train with actual dragon slayers."

Natsu's eyes widened, "Alright I want in!"

"I don't think so gecko," Aria replied dryly.

He instantly whined, "Why not?!"

Tessa laughed nervously, "You are more of 'destroy first, think later.' That's not going to teach her anything."

"Wendy has potential and she needs training. Both physically and mentally. Dragon slayer magic is deadly when there's no control over it," Aria added in, with a seriousness that fell heavily on the guild. Tessa smiled softly, knowing well that her friend was speaking from first hand experience.

Laxus heard her loud in clear from across the guild and he inwardly sighed heavily. Memories of their training vividly going through his head. The one that was taking note of his behavior was Bickslow, but the mage wasn't commenting on it.

"I will allow this!" Makarov suddenly shouted, "This will be your mission when you're not out on jobs. You will train Wendy to become a strong dragon slayer!" He raised his glass as his tone was final.

Jet spoke up, "Not to offend you guys, but why can't Laxus or Gajeel train her? They have the most experience out of everyone."

Natsu complained loudly at that remark and Cana laughed, "You think those two would have the patience? They would scare the poor girl away!"

Various voices nodded and voiced their opinion of agreement.

Aria smirked at Wendy, "Be ready tomorrow morning."

"You seem in better spirits," Tessa said casually as they walked up a hill to reach a clearing where Aria had told Wendy to meet them at before leaving the guild the day prior.

"I don't know what you mean," Aria replied back with the same tone of voice.

Tessa got in front of her. She was getting tired of her silence, "You can't fool me. You lost something back there. I didn't know you were in lo—"

"Do not finish that sentence," Aria hissed furiously, "I didn't feel like that for him. I just thought that maybe something would happen. I don't know. When he first kissed me… I felt… happy? I don't know. I was foolish and it won't happen again. He's clearly a womanizer and I'm through with those kinds of guys."

Tessa decided to drop the subject after that. At least she was glad Aria had opened up somewhat. When they reached the clearing, they were surprised to see Lucy there with Wendy instead of Carla.

"She's not happy I'm doing this," Wendy said, "So I asked Lucy if she could come with me."

Lucy raise her hands on defense, "I'm not going to interfere. I'm just really curious how you guys will train."

"You can join if you want," Aria shrugged her shoulders, "It won't be that much of a difference of just training normally."

Tessa grinned, This is going to be fun!

Aria grabbed Wendy by the shoulders and pointed at the trees further away from them.

"Show me your dragon roar. Don't hold back."

Wendy's eyes widened comically and gulped. Aria let go of her and stepped back.

Wendy took a deep breath and yelled, "SKY DRAGON ROAR!"

The powerful gush of wind shot forward from the girl's mouth. The tornado destroying multiple trees in its path.

"Not bad, but you can do better," Aria commented from behind her as she motioned Tessa to come forward.

"Tessa had explained to me that anyone that is a dragon slayer can hear their inner dragon within themselves. I didn't believe so since I became a slayer due to the lacrima in me. It wasn't until I was gone in training, that I found out I had it as well."

-.-.-.-.

"Do it again, that was fucking pathetic," his voice was harsh and boring as he leaned against a tree, completely drenched as the storm above them rumbled loudly, shaking the ground underneath. He knew this was the perfect opportunity for her to let herself go, but so far he wasn't impressed. He thought the excitement she had when the storm first hit would influence her magic, but nothing. He had never seen her so genuinely happy ever since they started to train until now.

Besides, there was something about making her riled up that would greatly amuse him.

"Are you serious right now? I gave it everything I got!" Aria retorted back, clearly offended he had called her roar pathetic.

He raised his eyebrow, clearly taking in the furious look on her golden eyes. He rolled his eyes at her, "Your element is literally rumbling and you're not even taking advantage of it. Surprised your inner dragon isn't going insane because of that."

She was ready to throw an insult at him but his remark made her blink in confusion, "Inner dragon?"

He was going to say something to piss her off but the way her eyes were wide in confusion and the way she tilted her head stopped him from doing so. He stepped away from the tree and walked up to her, "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

She scratched her head, "I've heard Tessa mention it. But I thought that wouldn't apply to me cause I wasn't raised by one."

He sighed, his voice losing some of his typical brashness, "Just because we weren't raised by one doesn't mean we are lesser. We are second generation. The lacrima is in us and so is our own inner dragon. You just gotta focus."

He reached over and spun her around, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. He slightly gulped by the closeness of their soaked bodies, but pushed any thoughts out of his mind to help her reach what she needed to reach.

"Close your eyes and focus. You'll feel a powerful rumbling within you if you focus hard enough. That's your inner dragon. Reach to it."

She was still skeptical over the whole thing. Yeah, she had a different view of the man since he didn't let her die because of the Gorians, but she couldn't help but think that he sounded crazy for what he said.

However, there was something on the deep tone of his voice that she felt compelled to do as he said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt her mind wander off and going deeper within her. Suddenly, something that she had never felt before, rumbled pleasantly at her.

"I think I found it."

"Good. What does it want?"

"Thunder."

She could hear the smirk in his voice, "Then do as it says."

-.-.-.-.-./,

"Earth to Aria!" Tessa said, as she waved a hand in front of her friend, clearly wondering what had made her space out so suddenly.

Aria blinked in confusion, "Wha—"

Lucy giggled, "You kind of spaced out when Tessa was explaining to Wendy about the inner dragon thing."

Aria cleared her throat and blushed, "Sorry. Anyways, try it again."

Tessa seemed like she wanted to ask but thought so otherwise. She turned back to the young girl, "Close your eyes and feel the wind around you. That's your advantage compare to everyone else. There's air everywhere. Fill in your lungs, your soul."

The young girl felt a new form of strength as she listened to the other two. She did as they told her, and this time, her roar was twice the size it had previously been.

Tessa and Aria smiled at each other and joined the girl.

"THUNDER DRAGON ROAR!"

"GLASS DRAGON ROAR!"

An excited Levy rushed to the inside of the guild, "You can see their dragon roars from here!"

Multiple guild members rushed out, exciting shouts and impressive comments could be heard as they saw from the distance three different dragon roars.

Laxus felt a moment of pride as he saw the familiar blue thunder in the distance. In just a month she had increased her power to great extent. She wasn't afraid to show her power anymore and for that he was proud.

However he lost the opportunity to share that with her by her side. Ever since their little game a few weeks back, he found new attraction towards her. Specially after he had kissed her. But in just the matter how the potential of something happening started, it ended just as quickly.

She had looked beyond gorgeous a few days ago, and in that moment he realized that maybe he should pursue something serious with her, see where it went. But his luck went down the drain when Becca appeared.

Aria looked beyond heartbroken. She could say whatever she wanted, but he wasn't a fool. She had felt something for him. What specifically, who knows.

But he fucked it up.

"It seems that your training with Aria paid off," Freed casually said from his side as they all stood outside watching with the rest, "Not that she wasn't powerful, but there seems to be a difference. She keeps it up, Master may even consider her for the S Class trials this year."

Laxus crossed his arms, "Yeah I guess so."

"I never doubted that you would come back to us."

The statement was blunt and to the point. Something Freed hardly ever did before. An overwhelming guilt filled Laxus but he kept his face neutral. He had to be grateful for his team. They had basically received him with open arms. Team Natsu had also surprised him as well by showing up at the bar for the celebration of the Thunder Legion being put back together. He thought back to what Erza said when they had first gotten to the bar.

"Our teams are not just comrades. They are our friends, our family. They are what helps us in times of need and to fall back on in combat. They missed you and they needed you. It's good that you're back."

All of them had made conversation with him. Or more like, he listened to them while he responded when he had deemed it necessary. Then Mira and Gajeel (of all people) had shown up too. It had been tense, especially because he kept replaying in his head the damage he had done to Natsu and Gajeel. If Aria hadn't stepped in when she had, he couldn't imagine the shape of the other two after the battle. The iron slayer had kept to himself at first, but then Mira had ordered a round of shots, everyone had loosened up. All of them, in their own way, said that they had forgiven him for what he had done. Gajeel and Natsu had asked for a rematch. Lucy and Gray outright said it. Mira didn't need words, her smile said it all. He didn't feel like an outsider with them, but the rest of the guild was still another story.

Some still couldn't look at him. Those that did wouldn't hide their dislike. But he paid them no mind. It wasn't their decision after all if his grandpa had not expelled him or not. And even then that was still a shock that he hadn't been.

There's a lot that he still needed to prove to himself and to everyone. His whole personality was not going to change overnight, but he didn't find them as a bunch worthless weaklings anymore. Even if it had been over a month that he had left the guild, that had opened his eyes lot more than he thought.

And he knew the silver haired beauty had something to do with it.

"Come on Wendy, I know you can kick better than that!"

Aria had her hands up in a defensive position and Wendy was panting heavily in front of her. After their roars and a few hours more of mental training, which Tessa led most of it, they had gone into physical training.

Something that Aria was practically bouncing off her feet for.

They didn't have any punching bags of any sort, so she had opted out by putting her arms in front of her face and have Wendy kick them multiple times. The small girl had refused, worried of the damage she could do to Aria's arms, but the woman had insisted. Besides, that was going to be the best way to see where Wendy laid physically.

The bluenette cleaned the sweat dripping down her forehead and did as the other woman said. She kicked and kicked, eventually placing more force into them that finally Aria's arms started to bleed.

The woman grinned brightly, "Finally you drew blood!"

Wendy apologetically stared at her now bleeding forearms, "Let me heal you!"

The woman waved her off as she started to walk towards the small backpack she had brought with her, "I have a few bandages, don't bother with your magic. Just help me wrap my arms."

Wendy did as she was told and for a moment, they sat quietly as Wendy wrapped her arms and they stared at Tessa teaching Lucy a few fighting moves. As Aria paid attention, some of them were new and she had never seen them before. She waited until the two were done and made their way to them.

"Where did you learn some of those?"

Tessa blinked and stuttered, "O-oh. Um. Gajeel did."

Lucy couldn't help but grin, "Are you blushing?"

Tessa shook her head and she turned around, clearly avoiding attention to her face, "Of course not."

After a couple more hours later, the four mages went back to Lucy's apartment battered, dirty, and extremely sweaty. Aria had pushed them physically and Tessa had pushed them mentally. Aria was able to help Lucy with her fighting skills a bit more than Tessa. Lucy had a tendency of relying solely on her keys and that was something both female slayers were hoping to break. If Lucy were to lose her keys or something, she would be in serious trouble and that's the last thing they wanted for her. They all took turns sparring each other and they ended the night with Aria and Tessa fighting one another.

Lucy couldn't help but be beyond impressed with both slayers. They knew each other so well, that it had almost been a draw. They knew each other's attacks and such, but she had to admit that Aria had the upper hand the moment she brought out her thunder magic. Tessa wasn't used to fighting it. Every now and then and it had been small things of power.

She offered for all the girls to have a sleep over at her house and use her bathtub. All three of them happily agreed and quickly left. It took them a few hours to get back and they had been so grateful the moment Magnolia had come into the clearer view.

Wendy had fallen asleep on Lucy's lap after bathing and braiding each other's hair. She knew she was walking in dangerous waters since she wasn't that close to Aria, but she still worried about her.

"Did you mean what you said that night Aria?" Lucy quietly asked to not disturb the young girl on her lap.

Aria stopped drying her hair and looked at her and then at Tessa, "I swear you two are a lot alike."

Tessa grinned, not even an ounce offended at that.

"Want me to bullshit or the truth?"

"The truth," Both girls said at the same time.

"Nosy. That's all I gotta say. Fine. I liked him. He kisses good," she wanted to stop it right there, but both girls were giving her a certain look of 'There's more and we want to know' so she gave in.

"He's sexy as hell." She buried her face on her hands, utterly embarrassed that she was admitting that to them. The other two were grinning widely.

However, she shook her head as in to come back to reality, "But he's a womanizer. I've dealt with that kind before and I don't want to again. He clearly doesn't feel the same way. So, moving on!"

"Well that kiss he gave you said otherwise," Lucy said as she continued grinning.

Aria sighed, "Forgot you guys saw that," she mumbled under her breath.

"What if it was just all a misunderstanding?" Tessa pointed as she lightly tapped her cheek with her index finger.

"Not happening. So Lucy, when did you and Natsu started sleeping together?"

The busty blonde's eyes widened dramatically and her face went a deep red, "No! Oh my—Where did you get that idea?!"

Wendy stirred on her sleep but thankfully didn't wake up.

"Sometimes you reek of him. At least the few times I've been around you. Tessa should smell it, she has a better nose than I do."

Tessa looked confused, "I just assumed she did because they're teammates?"

"You're his teammate too and you don't reek of him like that."

Lucy groaned, extremely glad Wendy was asleep, "He sometimes breaks into my window and sneaks in my bed."

Sly smiles appeared on the other two, "Ohhh is that so?" Tessa asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Lucy glared at her, "I wouldn't talk Ms. I-Have-Gray-and-Gajeel-on-my-hand."

Aria had to grab a pillow to stop herself from laughing loudly.

Tessa's eyes widened and blushed furiously, "Hey! It's not like that! They're both just really good friends."

Both girls gave her a look like they didn't believe her.

Lucy loved that she had gotten the attention off her and decided to milk the opportunity as much as possible.

"If you had to pick—who would you go for?"

Aria snorted, "She can't pick just like that. She has to see what they can both offer. Although I would have to say, Gajeel is the better pick."

Tessa's blush deepened. "Why Gajeel?"

"Typical bad boy, rough around the edges, attractive, and mysterious."

"Are you describing Gajeel or Laxus?" Lucy asked with a smirk. The question earned her a pillow to her face. Aria nodded, happy that the pillow had made full contact and turned around to the brunette.

"Anyways! Yeah, they have similarities. Gajeel doesn't seem the type to sleep with anything that has boobs and a vagina though. Keeps to himself. He's loyal. I've heard of the times he watched Juvia's back when they were in Phantom Lord. AND!" She paused for dramatic effect, "He isn't getting naked 24/7 like ice boy."

"But Gray is sweet though," Lucy interjected, "He definitely knows how to treat a lady. Will lay down his own life for anyone in the guild. Yeah he gets naked, but at least his body is nice to look at."

Tessa couldn't believe it was possible to feel herself becoming redder, but it was.

"Why are you guys comparing them?"

Aria grinned, "Sooner or later you're going to end up picking."

—-

"WHAT?!" Various shouts echoed loudly through the guild. Everyone was already inside, getting another day started when they found various lacrima cameras, the over excited reporter from Sorcerer's Weekly, Jason, with a microphone in hand, and a very mysterious Master. He had broken the news that everyone would be participating on the 24 hour Endurance Road Race that day.

Lucy, Wendy, Aria, and Tessa paled since both girls had woken up sore from their training session the day before.
Aria's forearms were still bandaged from the damage Wendy had caused.

"Couldn't you have given us a warning old man!?" Gray loudly asked.

Makarov laughed, "As wizards, you should always be prepared for the unexpected! There shouldn't be excuses for failure! You get up and continue forward. I decided this year to catch all of you off guard, to show me what you guys really got! Don't worry, I already have prepared the punishment game for this year!"

Laxus groaned to himself. He had been lucky that he had been on a solo S-Class mission the year prior and didn't partake on the event. He had heard about the last punishment the year before and he was even more glad he hadn't been there. He only participated on the race a few times, but after a while, he would always make sure he was gone in complicated issues.

"You guys have an hour to prepare and then meet me back on South Gate Park! Now off with you hooligans!"

The girls and Gajeel stood dumbfounded as everyone panicked to change clothes and get ready. Various conversations could be heard about the 'punishment' game and they were confused. Gajeel took a hold of Gray and pulled him to them.

"Oi kid, why the hell is everyone freaking out?"

"It's a race you idiot, didn't you hear? The loser or losers will have to undergo some embarrassing and horrible punishment that only the master knows."

"Say what!?" The four girls exclaimed. Their eyes were wide in disbelief.

"You have to show how strong you are in this. You're screwed if you're in last place. Last year Jet won."

They turned to look at the man, who was trying his hardest to impress Levy who was not interested.

"Guess we gotta get ready," Wendy sheepishly said. Carla shook her head, "See child, you should not have trained so hard yesterday!"

/./././././.

An hour later, the whole guild was standing at the starting line, listening to the Master give his speech in order to encourage everyone. Aria had changed into a pair of short shorts and a tank top, feeling extremely comfortable with the idea of running with her boots on. Tessa was wearing a regular t shirt and short shorts as well, but prepared with running shoes. As she stood to listen to the Master, she kept adjusting her sports bra, not looking forward to how uncomfortable she might get. Aria looked around until her eyes fell upon Laxus' form. He was wearing a plain black shirt where the sleeves had obviously been ripped off and a pair of track pants. She was glad however, that he hadn't made an attempt to approach her after what happened. The closer she look at his posture, he seemed the most bored out of everyone there.

"Now for the rules!" Makarov said, catching Aria's attention, "After several complaints from last year, flying magic is prohibited. Laxus, you cannot use your teleportation. All other forms of magic are allowed. Remember to use your brain in this task, it is not just about who's the fastest. You will go up to the mountains and grab a Wyvern Scale and bring it back to the finish line! NOW ALL OF YOU GET READY!"

"This year's title is mine!" Natsu laughed loudly, "I came up with the perfect secret weapon!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever. You're going to be eating my dust pyro."

Bickslow saw the serious look that Aria had and laughed, nudging her side.

"Don't worry, once I win I'll be nice and buy you a drink to cool off."

"Yeah, you keep thinking you're going to win," She replied back with a playful tone.

Tessa and Aria grinned at each other when they got ready at the starting line. They had formed a plan that would leave everyone angry and riled up.

The moment the horn was let out, a loud powerful thunder was heard from the sky right at the same time, startling and confusing the competitors since they weren't sure if it had been the horn or the thunder. However, seeing Aria and Tessa take off at full speed answered their question.

But when Jet and Laxus took off, and both slammed into a powerful glass barrier, it made everyone stare in horror and shock.

Tessa looked back when she had heard the impact and laughed, "You do know he's going to realize this was your idea right?"

"He can eat my dust for all I care! How long did you put it up for?"

"Two minutes!"

2 minutes later.

Laxus mad wasn't even the word that could describe him. He could not believe he had fallen for that thunder sound.

Gajeel could only smirk as the glass finally faded. That had been a smart move.

It's on!

/./././././.

Eventually Jet had gotten ahead of them and both girls had groaned when they realized he was too fast to trap him or hit him with anything.

Aria had decided to slow down her pace, falling behind Tessa, to save some of her energy. She had a feeling that she was going to need it once she had the Wyvern scale in her possession and it was morning.

A sudden kick to her legs made her eyes widened and let out an 'eep' sound as she ended up falling face first. She groaned as she propped herself up and she rolled her eyes to see who had tripped her.

"Figures it would be you. Mad with my little trick?"

Laxus glared at her, "Out of all things, you did that?"

She smirked as she stood up and dusted herself off, "It worked didn't it?"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm, "Can we talk?"

So much for him not approaching me, she bitterly thought.

She looked at his hand and then at something behind him. Before he could react, she had pushed him away from her. When he made sure he wasn't going to fall, he cursed the moment he felt the ground being turned to ice.

Gray!

She laughed and jumped away before the ice could touch her and took off running. She clearly heard him slipping into the ice and inwardly laughed.

/./././.:./.

The race towards the mountain had been long and dreadful. Tessa didn't even cared the moment that Natsu and eventually Erza passed her. She was getting tired but she knew she had to be smart with her energy. She had already used quite a bit when she had made a labyrinth full of glass. She had been successful on making it stand for ten minutes until she finally felt her magic drain.

Natsu had been using his fire to boost his speed and it was a matter of time he would run out of magic so she was planning on using that to her advantage as well.

Stupid mountain! She panted as she ran up the rocky road.

Running was something that she had always hated even if she was a competitive person. She felt bad for Happy however, since the poor cat had to rely solely on his small legs to make it to the finish line.

Aria had caught up to her, and both girls instantly grabbed the first pieces of Wyvern scales they came across.

"This," Tessa panted, "is… ridiculous!"

"I'm still getting you back for that stupid labyrinth!"

Tessa's eyes widened, "You fell for that?!"

/./././.:.

Morning had quickly come and both girls were racing against Erza, Laxus, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel. There were no signs of Jet and they just assumed he had made it to the finished line already if Laxus was on their same group. Which was surprising, but the mage had decided to do this without his magic to prove a point.

They were all completely drenched in sweat, panting, and groaning as they continued pushing their limbs to their limits competing for first place.

Tessa had tried riling them up and throwing insults so one of them could get distracted and she could get in front. But no one seemed to be falling for it. Not even Aria and thathad always worked in the pass with them.

However, when a loud yell from behind them came from a person that was running at full speed, they all realized they had been competing for first place the whole time.

Laxus engulfed himself in his lightning and smirked at them.

Fuck this, he thought, "See you idiots at the finish line!"

He took off, going way ahead of them and Aria growled.

"NO YOU ARE NOT YOU STUPID BLONDE!"

And for the first time ever, her own blue thick thunder covered her and went after him.

Tessa could only gap at them, shock since she had never seen Aria doing that.

"That's not fair!" Natsu complained loudly.

/././././.

Both slayers were growling as they were head to head towards the finish line. Aria knew she was giving all her magic away for imitating Laxus' power of using his lightning to be faster with her thunder.

"So you make a move on me and then agree to go for a drink with my teammate?" Laxus growled from her side, his eyes right on the finish line that he could finally see.

Aria almost tripped, "Are you fucking kidding me? That's none of your business!"

"It kind of is since he's part of MY team!" He roared at her.

"What he does on his own personal life it doesn't concern you!" She yelled back at him. Her magic disappeared and she stood there, just a few yards away from the finish line.

"Are you telling me you're jealous?" She asked as she crossed her arms.

He was five feet away and he stopped. He whirled around and stomped towards her.

"I'm not fucking jealous!" He roared as he neared her.

She met his own glare with one of her own, "Yes you are!"

"You're being delusional!"

"You're being stupid!"

He was about to reply back at her when his eyes widened at the commotion behind her. He barely had time to grab her and turn his body so he could get the full impact.

Natsu had run out of magic and tripped, crashing into Erza, who crashed into Jet, who crashed into Gray, then Tessa who crashed into Gajeel. Laxus grunted as he felt the full weight of the iron dragon slayer who weighed way heavier than the normal person thanks to his magic. His grip on Aria lessened a bit since Gajeel was a lot heavier than he thought. All of them groaned in pain as they skidded on the ground. Aria had hit her head on the concrete and was groaning, trying to hold her head. Laxus winced since he had heard the impact and he still had a hold on her waist. Tessa's air had been knocked out of her the moment she had landed on Gajeel, making her cough uncontrollably. He was groaning in pain as well but patted her back so she could regain her breathing.

They were all groaning and wincing and could only lay on the ground to see Happy out of everyone win the endurance race.

They could hear Jason's enthusiastic screams as he declared Happy the winner. Tessa, still red and coughing, voiced her opinion loud and clear.

"The fucking cat won!?"

Slowly and dreadfully, they started to move when they saw Wendy and Carla taking second and third place. More complaints were heard, but as some of them started to get up, they heard the rest of the guild moving towards them. During the whole stampede, Erza had gotten a hold of Tessa and pulled her with her. Laxus didn't think twice as he picked up Aria who was still disoriented from the blow to her head and used his lightning to get over the finish line with everyone else.

The last thing Aria heard was Lucy complaining that it wasn't fair that the losers had to appear in Sorcerer's Weekly in pin up outfits.