Hargeon Ice Triathlon
Natsu awoke the next morning to the most horrible sound, Gray's voice. "Come on man it is already seven-thirty you need to wake up, everyone else is already down at the beach."
Natsu groggily sat up and looked around, the bed where Gajeel and Jellal had been sleeping was empty. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Gray who was in the midst of changing his clothes. "Why are you here, doesn't it start at eight?"
"I have been out warming up this morning, I just had to come back and change to my official uniform," he said as he finished putting on his uniform which consisted of a black, white, and army-green tri-suit that had his contestant number sewn onto it.
Natsu stumbled to the bathroom and got ready. When he came back out Gray had already left. He made his way down to the lobby then out across the boardwalk to the beach to look for everyone else. Once he got to the spectators viewing area he easily spotted his group of friends; they were always easy to find with their vibrant hair colors, although one blonde head seemed to be missing.
Once Erza caught sight of him she narrowed her eyes and began to march towards him. "Finally you got up, I thought I was going to have to go up to your room and drag you out of there myself."
A sudden flash of Erza throwing him out of bed made Natsu glad Gray had been the one to wake him up. "Well, I am here now."
Erza nodded her head, "Yes, good, we have about twenty minutes before it starts."
When he looked around again and still didn't see Lucy he had a sinking feeling in his stomach that whatever had been upsetting her last night was still bothering her. "Where's Lucy?" he finally asked.
"Lu had to run up to the room she forgot her camera. She should be back soon," Levy answered
He felt the sinking feeling go away, he was happy she was not avoiding him.
"There she is now," Juvia said as she pointed back towards the hotel.
Natsu turned to look in the direction and saw Lucy was about fifty feet from them, but some guy had stopped her and was talking to her. She was nodding and smiling politely at what the guy was saying. Natsu was glad she did not seem all frazzled like she had been last night. As he observed them he noticed that the man continuously bent his head down, like he was examining something. Natsu tried to see what the man was looking at when he noticed that Lucy's camera was hanging around her neck, right in front of the very low neckline on her dress. It was pretty clear to him what the man was actually checking out, but Lucy did not seem to realize it. When she finally looked over at them her eyes landed on Natsu, and he could have sworn her cheeks blushed for a second before she smiled and waved. She quickly said goodbye to the man and crossed the rest of the distance to them.
"Natsu you finally woke up I see," she greeted him with a playful smile.
"Yeah," Natsu looked over her shoulder at the man who was still leering at her. Natsu got the sudden urge to shield her from the man, so he sent him his scariest glare and stepped closer to her. "Do you know that guy?"
Lucy tilted her head to the side then looked behind her, "Oh him? No I don't, he was just really interested in my camera."
A short barking laugh came from Gajeel, "I'm sure, he was just interested in your camera."
Lucy looked confused till she looked down and seemed to notice for the first time exactly what her camera was hanging in front of. Her face turned bright red and she began to splutter, "No he knew a lot of stuff about the brand." She stopped and her shoulders slumped, "Who am I kidding, he was staring strait at my chest."
Natsu felt his fist clench, "You should go punch him."
Lucy cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest, "Natsu I can't go around punching people for checking me out."
Natsu heard a light laugh from Levy, "She would be punching people constantly if she did that."
"Why, does that kind of thing happen a lot to you?" Natsu asked Lucy.
"Seriously?" Levy asked. Natsu looked around at everyone some of them looked surprised, but others looked slightly amused by his question. "Lu gets hit on all the time. There is this one guy from our class that is pretty persistent," Levy answered him.
Her statement surprised Natsu; he had never seen her getting hit on. Except that one time at the coffee shop, which brought back a vague memory of something Gray had said. He felt his chest begin to ache. The thought of Lucy having to endure that all the time just because of how she looked pissed him off.
"Come on everyone, lets go get seats before it starts," Erza said in a commanding voice.
Everyone began to proceed to the stands, when they found enough space for all of them Natsu sat down between Lucy and Erza. He could feel the excitement in the stands, and decided to focus on the triathlon and push the thoughts of Lucy and other guys out of his head for now.
"Wow I didn't know so many people had entered," Lucy looked in wonder at all the participants; there must have been about one hundred and fifty this year.
Erza leaned across Natsu, "Yes this is a very big event in Hargeon, much of the beach and city have been blocked off for it today."
Natsu looked down at the beach in front of the stands where the participants had gathered. They were currently being boated out to a floating platform located a little less than a mile away where the triathlon would start. The first part of the race was swimming; the participants will swim from the platform to the shoreline, where the running part will start. They will run along the beach for three miles before turning into the city and continuing for three more. At that point they will reach the biking stage of the triathlon. They will bike twenty-five miles on a set course through Hargeon, before crossing the finish line, which was located on the boardwalk behind the stands. There were many projectors set up on the beach and lots of cameras on the course, so that the spectators could watch the entire event.
Suddenly Juvia jumped up and pointed towards the boats, "Look there is Gray!"
They all looked out at the boats and saw that Gray had been loaded onto one and was talking to a man with silver hair.
"Ugh-oh," Erza said.
"What's wrong, did something happen to Gray," Juvia asked frantically.
"No, nothings wrong," Erza said quickly trying to calm her down. "You see that guy he is sitting beside?"
Juvia nodded her head.
"Well they knew each other before Gray moved to Magnolia and they meet again last year. His name is Lyon and he has a way of getting under Gray's skin, I hope he doesn't bother him to much before the race starts," Erza explained.
Juvia puffed out her cheeks and yelled, "Stay focused Gray, you can do it!"
Most of the people sitting around them turned to look at her. Juvia's face flamed red and she quickly sat down.
The last of the boats arrived at the platform and all of the participants were gathered at the edge. The projectors turned on and the announcer popped up on the screen, "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the 34th Hargeon Ice Triathlon! We have many great participants this year. The race will commence in a few minutes."
Lucy turned to look at Natsu she had a huge smile spread across her face, "This is really exciting! How well do you think Gray will do?"
"Last year he finished in the top half, which was pretty good, considering it was his first year. This year he wants to finish in the top quarter, but I think he will be happy as long as he finishes before Lyon." He answered her.
The announcer came back on, "The Ice Triathlon is about to start, all the racers are in their starting positions." BANG the starting gun was fired. Natsu watched at the contestants dove into the water and made their way to the shore.
"Swimming is this cold of water would hinder most people, but since he is an ice freak this will be his strongest leg of the race. He is hoping to finish with the top group," Natsu continued to explain to Lucy
"The first few swimmers are reaching the shore," the announcer said a few minutes later.
Natsu and the others cheered when they saw that Gray was in the first group of people to come out of the water. They watched as he grabbed his tennis shoes from his spot and hurriedly pulled them on. Natsu noted with a scowl that Lyon was also already out of the water and was slightly ahead of Gray.
Lucy scrunched her eyebrows together, "Why is Gray slowing down so much?"
"Running in the sand is hard and it can make you tired fast. So he plans on taking this part the slowest," Natsu answered her.
She nodded her head as she and everyone else stared intently at the screens. Most of the runners were now far enough down the beach that they could not be seen anymore. After forty-five minutes the announcer came on again, "Some racers have reached the bikes, and are now starting the last part of the Ice Triathlon."
Natsu scanned the screens. He saw that Gray was approaching the bike area, but he had fallen back quite a bit from where he had started. Lyon had also fallen back, and was looking more tired than Gray. They both reached their bikes at the same time and jumped on.
Natsu leaned back and stretched his arms. Lucy looked over at him with a questioning look. "This part can take up to two hours, so you might as well get comfortable."
Not much happened for the first hour and a half after the bike race started, Gray and Lyon both had steadily made up their lost ground, but still stayed neck in neck with each other. Once they reached the flag that marked the last quarter of the race Lyon took a hard turn and cut off Gray. They all held sucked in their breaths as they watched Gray's bike began to wobble. Natsu felt his hand being grabbed and looked down to see that Lucy had a death grip on it. He looked at her face and saw that she was completely zoned into the race, she didn't even seem to notice she had grabbed onto his hand. Natsu turned his hand over and interlaced their fingers before returning his attention to the screen where he saw that Gray had regained control of his bike, but Lyon had picked up his pace and was starting to pull ahead. Gray quickened his speed and easily caught back up to Lyon. They continued with their faster pace for the last part of the course and when they were reaching the end of the course they started doing everything they could to try and pull ahead of the other.
"Our first athlete has crossed the finish line!" the announcer said.
Natsu saw that Gray looked to be in pretty good standing where he was now, he might even be in the top quarter. Gray and Lyon continued to give it their all, when they reached the last turn Natsu felt Lucy's grip on his hand tighten even more. He looked around at the rest of his friends, Juvia had shredded her program, Levy was cheering loudly, Gajeel was trying to look uninterested but Natsu knew better, Erza had Jellal in a strangle hold, but he was still sitting calmly. Natsu looked back to the screens to see Gray and Lyon were perfectly tied coming down the strait away to the finish. They were both peddling as fast as they could, there was nobody else around them, and it seemed like they were going to tie. Suddenly Natsu saw Juvia jump up and bolt to the top of the stands, once she was facing the direction of the finish line she shouted out, "Juvia believes in you Gray!"
Natsu snapped his head back to the screens where he saw a look of total determination come over Gray's face. Gray began to peddle harder and faster than it seemed possible, Lyon's eyes widened in shock. They crossed the finish line with Gray crossing just inches in front of Lyon. Natsu was suddenly jerked up as Lucy jumped up in the air with a cheer. She seemed surprised when she saw that they were holding hands, but just shrugged and pulled him into a celebratory hug.
They all hurried out of the stands to where Gray was. Juvia immediately ran and jumped into his arms, but in Gray's exhausted state he could not support their combined weight and they crashed to the ground. "Juvia is so proud of you," she cried out as she bent down and kissed him.
After they finished Natsu walked over and held his hand out to help lift them both back up, "So what place did you get?"
"I came in at 42nd," Gray answered after he was fully upright again.
"That puts you in the top thirty percent, and you beat Lyon. I am very proud of you also," Erza told him.
Gray smirked, "Yeah I was only a little worried that jerk might beat me."
"Who are you calling a jerk?" Came a lofty voice
They all turned to see Lyon walking up to them. When he reached them Lyon's eyes shifted over to Juvia and they bulged out. He clasped her hands between his, "Who is this lovely lady?"
Juvia blushed at his bold words, "My name is Juvia."
Gray wrapped his arm around her waist and narrowed his eyes, "Are you staying for the celebration Lyon?"
Lyon quickly looked between the two before he dropped Juvia's hand. "Yes I will be staying," he began to turn and walk away, "But first I need to find Toby and Yuka." He glanced back over his shoulder and looked strait at Juvia, "I am sure I will be seeing you later."
After Lyon had walked away Gray let out a sigh, "I need to take a shower and change, I will meet you guys on the beach." As he started walking back to the hotel everyone watched with open-mouthed expressions as he began to take off his shoes and tri-suit.
"Gray your clothes," Erza shouted at him.
He jumped and looked down where he had already pulled his suit down enough to expose his chest, "Shit!"
They all burst out laughing. Once they had settled down Lucy asked, "What is the celebration Gray mentioned?"
"Didn't we tell you about it?" Levy asked clearly surprised.
Lucy shook her head.
"The city of Hargeon hosts a party for the athletes and their guest on the part of the beach that was used for the triathlon." Erza informed her.
"It is so much fun Lu, they have games, music, and food. It last all night too," Levy was bouncing up and down in excitement.
Lucy looked very excited, "That does sound like a lot of fun."
Natsu started to head down to the beach, "Come on I'm hungry."
lllll
When they reached the beach they saw that much of it had already been transformed, the event staff has started working as soon as the last contestant had entered the city. They grabbed food and headed to a table. About ten minutes later Gray joined them. Once she had finished eating Lucy jumped up, "I think I am going to walk around and take some pictures."
"Do you want me to go with you Lu?" Levy asked her.
"You don't have to, I am going to stick close by and just take a few," she answered.
Levy decided to stay, so Lucy grabbed her camera and headed closer to the water. She took pictures of the ocean, the people on the beach, but mostly she took pictures of her friends as they talked and laughed with each other. She remembered when she had asked her father for a camera on one of the occasions he was home and she though he had ignored her request, but the next week she received a package from him. When she opened it she found a top of the line camera inside, she had been so happy that he had thought about her. She planned on using it when she started high school with the friends she would make, but when that didn't turn out like she had hoped she started using it less and less. The night she ran away she found it in one of her drawers and decided to bring it with her. She was glad now that she had made that decision, since she had great friends to take pictures of. She zoomed in on Natsu who was standing on top of the table and doing the silliest dance she had ever seen.
A loud cough from behind her caught her attention. She turned around to see the guy that had stopped and talked to her that morning. "Hello, it is nice to see you again, I see that you have your camera out, have you taken any good pictures?"
Lucy tried to smile, but she could tell it seemed fake. "Yes I have gotten some shots of the beach and the water." He continued to ask her questions and he never once looked at her chest. She decided they must have been wrong about him, because he only seemed interested in the camera. When she thought that he was done talking she began to say goodbye, but he stopped her, "I have a camera very similar to yours up in my hotel room if you want to go and look at it."
This made warning bells go off in her head, there was no way in hell she was going to his hotel room. She tried to be polite as she declined, "That is nice, but no thank you."
This did not deter the man, "It has different features than yours and I have some lenses that I don't use anymore that you can have."
Lucy started to get a little worried and was glad she was in a heavily populated area. "Again no thanks. I should really get back to my friends," she said as she gestured behind her to where they were sitting.
The man moved towards her, "I am sure they will be fine without you for a little bit."
She was completely freaked out now and just when she was about to turn and run back to her friends she felt an arm sling around her shoulders. She turned her head and saw Natsu glowering at the man. "Hey Lucy, you have been over here for a while we were starting to wonder if you were ever coming back," he said to her, but never took his eyes off the man.
Lucy knew he came over here to rescue her, but she didn't need rescuing. "I was just about to," she said in slight agitation.
"So that means you were leaving," Natsu hissed at the man not seeming to understand Lucy was upset with him.
The man quickly turned and walked away. When he was out of sight Lucy elbowed Natsu in the ribs, his arm jerked off of her shoulders and he stepped back from her, "What was that for?"
Lucy crossed her arms over her chest, "I was handling him, you didn't need to come over here and save me."
Natsu threw is hands up, "Are you serious, he was about to grab you."
"We are in the middle of a crowded beach, you were standing right over there, what could he have possible done?"
Natsu stared at her for a while, then exhaled slowly, "I know he could not have done anything." He clenched his fist, "and if he had tried I would have beaten him to a pulp." He unclenched his fist and his eyes softened as he looked at her, "I just don't like that you have to deal with guys like that."
Lucy felt her anger dissipate, "I am sorry I yelled at you. I just get mad now when people treat me like I cant take care of myself, I got that enough from my father. I'm sure that if that happened anywhere but here I would have gladly accepted your help." She reached out and grabbed his hand, "Come on lets go back."
When they reached the table Gajeel looked up at them, "Look Bunny Girl didn't get taken by that creeper."
"Gajeel," Levy chided as she slapped his arm.
"We are glad you are back, did you get any good pictures?" Erza asked.
Lucy smiled brightly, "Yeah I took a lot of pictures of you guys. I can send them to you."
"Juvia wants pictures of Gray," she shouted out.
As the day progressed they played games, danced, and ate lots of food. Lyon and his friends had hung out with them some also, although he only seemed to be interested in Juvia. Now it was after sunset; they bought S'mores supplies and gathered driftwood to make a campfire which they all sat around on their beach towels. "How can you eat yours so burnt," Lucy asked Natsu with a wrinkle of her nose.
"What lots of people like burnt marshmallows," he said as he allowed another marshmallow to catch fire.
"But you burned you graham cracker too, and I'm pretty sure that last marshmallow was still on fire."
Natsu pushed the S'more he had just made towards her, "It's good try it."
Lucy held up her hands, "No thanks."
"Your loss," he said as he popped it into his mouth.
Gray yawned really loudly, "I am exhausted. I think I will go back to the hotel."
As he stood, Juvia also stood, "Juvia will go with you." After they gathered all of their stuff they told everyone goodnight and walked back to the hotel.
The rest of the group sat in silence cooking and eating more S'mores. Until in a low voice Levy said "Lets tell ghost stories." Everyone agreed and Levy went first. It was about an hour later and Jellal had just finished telling the most horrifying story Lucy had ever heard when a sudden shrieking sound caused her to nearly jump out of her own skin.
Erza looked down and silenced her alarm, "It's time."
"T-time for what?" Lucy asked.
Erza's had a determined gleam in her eyes, "I am going to find Hargeon's famous Midnight Bakery food truck. They are rumored to have the best strawberry cake, but they only come out after ten on the weekends." She stood and pumped her fist into the air, "I will have that cake!"
Jellal stood and grabbed their belongings then followed Erza into the city.
After watching Jellal and Erza leave Lucy turned her head back to see that Levy was leaning her head into Gajeel's chest and he was running a hand through her hair. She remembered how Levy said it would be nice it she could have some alone time with Gajeel this weekend and Lucy decided now would be the perfect time. She leaned over towards Natsu who had started to grab another marshmallow and in a whispered tone asked, "Do you want to go on a walk with me?"
He looked over at her, then back down at his marshmallow where he seemed to ponder his decision before he put the marshmallow down, "Sure."
As they stood up they caught Levy's attention, "Are you guys leaving too?"
"No we are just going to take a walk," Lucy answered her as she and Natsu set off down the beach.
"Why did you decide to take a walk?" he asked once they were out of earshot.
"I thought it would be nice if we let them be alone."
He gave her a curious look, "Why, they are alone all the time at the apartment?"
"It is different here though. They are on a beach at night surrounded by firelight. It is very romantic."
Natsu considered her statement, "I guess that would be."
Lucy smiled happy that he understood. They continued their walk down the beach in comfortable silence till Lucy saw a large piece of driftwood. She walked over to it and sat down, and Natsu sat beside her. "I am glad I got to come this weekend. It has been a lot of fun." She tilted her head up to look at the sky, "Plus the stars are beautiful out here, they can be so hard to see in the city."
"Yeah," Natsu agreed. They sat in silence for a few moments until Natsu moved off the log and laid down in the sand. He placed both hands behind his head, "You can see them a lot better if you lay down."
"I would but I don't want to get sand all in my hair."
Natsu tilted his head back and looked at her. He then propped himself up on his elbow and began to unravel his scarf from around his neck. After he got it off he folded it into a square then he laid back down like he had been before with his hands behind his head, but this time he had placed his scarf on the bend in his arm, "Here you can lay your head on this."
Lucy felt her heart begin to pound. He wanted her to lay her head on his arm, "Are you sure?"
"Of course."
With her heart pounding so hard she could hear it, she got up and sat down beside him, she twisted her hair up and laid her head down on his scarf. She angled her body slightly away from his, so that they weren't pressed together. When she got comfortable she looked up at the sky and gasped, it was a much better view, she could see the slight glow of the city behind her but mostly she saw the vast expanse of the stars above the ocean.
After taking it all in for a moment she said, "The stories my mother used to tell me were about the constellations."
"I would like to hear one."
She felt her breathing hitch, "You want me to tell you one of my mother's stories?"
"If you want to."
Lucy nodded, happy to share one of her precious stories with him. She thought about which story would be best to tell him, them she remembered her favorite. "This story is about the lion who fell in love with the ram."
After she finished the story she didn't say anything else, they both laid there in silence gazing up at the stars together. After a few minutes she heard a light snore, she turned her head and saw that he had fallen asleep. As she gazed at his sleeping face she felt a warmth spreading in her chest. Since he looked so peaceful and she was so comfortable right where she was, she decided to stay just a little while longer.
lllll
Levy was contentedly lying in Gajeels arms when she noticed that the campfire had nearly burnt all the way down. She checked her phone and was surprised to find that it was after midnight. She sat up and looked down at Gajeel, "I'm worried about Lu and Natsu, they have been gone for two hours."
He smirked up at her, "Maybe they are busy."
She slapped his chest, "I am serious, it has been to long. We should go look for them."
Gajeel sat up, "Fine, if that's what you want shrimp."
After they gathered up the remaining stuff and put the fire out completely they headed in the direction Natsu and Lucy had walked in.
"So does bunny girl like that idiot salamander?" Gajeel asked her.
Levy contemplated his question. She really liked to tease Lucy about it because it made her so flustered, which would only be the case if she did like him. On the other hand Levy thought that her and Lucy were pretty good friends by now, so she wasn't sure why she would not just admit it. "I think she does, but she might not fully realize it."
The continued to walk on in silence until Levy remembered something, "I have been meaning to ask you this. Why do you call Lu, bunny girl?"
"Gee-Hee, because when she was bowling she was hopping around like a bunny."
Levy laughed at the memory of when they had all gone bowling, Lucy had been really terrible at the beginning, and she did have a weird technique.
After the had walked quite a ways down the beach they saw two figures asleep in the sand, as they approached Levy recognized her two friends. Natsu was lying on his back with one hand bent behind his head which Lucy's head was laying on. Lucy's body was turned sideways facing Natsu and she was nestled into his side. Her right hand was stretched onto his chest and clasped together with is left hand.
Levy felt giddy at how cute they looked, so she pulled out her cell phone.
"What are you doin?" Gajeel asked her in a loud whisper.
"I am going to take a picture so that I can show Lu how cute they are together." When the camera flashed Natsu bolted upright. Which caused Lucy to get jerked up slightly before her head crashed into the sand.
"What the hell Natsu," Lucy said as she tried to shake the sand out of her hair.
He looked backwards at her, "Sorry Lucy, something bright flashed in my eyes."
"Sorry that was my phone." Levy said
Natsu and Lucy both seemed to notice them standing there for the first time, "What are you two doing here?"
"You have been gone for two hours, so we came to look for you," Levy answered.
Lucy looked at Natsu suprised, "We must have fallen asleep for an hour and a half."
Natsu stood up and began to shake out his clothes, "Wow I am really sandy."
Lucy stood also and handed Natsu his scarf, then began to shake her own clothes off.
"Come on lets go back to the hotel and you two can clean up then go back to sleep," Levy said.
They agreed and began to head back to the hotel. About half way there Lucy asked her, "So why did you flash us with your phone?"
"I was taking a picture," Levy said with a sly smile.
Lucy's eyebrow quirked up
"I will show it to you later I think you are going to like it."
Lover of Fairy Tails -
Here is part two of my Hargeon Arc, lol ;)
This is my longest chapter so far, as I was writing it I could tell it was going to be pretty long.
So Gray's tri-suit(which is a real thing, I did research on what triathlon athletes wear) is modeled off the black and white jacket and the army green pants he wears.
I tried to look up times and averages for triathlons, so hopefully I got pretty close. My times and distances are based off a standard/olympic triathlon.
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and thank you for continuing to read/review/follow/favorite.