Author's Note:
Hello! It's Wednesday! Time for a new chapter. ;D
Sorry about the last one being so sad...hopefully this one will make up for it.
And as always, huge, neon, sparkly thanks to all my wonderful reviewers out there! You guys are all absolutely amazing! Big hugs and kisses to all my repeat reviewers: ravenqueen162, Elphaba818, Shadowslayer15, 19vanelkc, KitsuneLover05, Missy 63, TheJSmooth, Firefly9917, Alice, Lucinda, HotvampGurl23, Donthedarkdragon26, moeruhoshi, Crystal Kitty842, valerioux, silentlinkmit339, RabbitMelody, thechani, WisdomDragon27, MiseryWolf97, dihan, Leomae2.0, kilatails, RavenShadow, and Wolves silver wind. Equally big hugs and kisses to my newest reviewer: loopymama.
Alrighty! On with the show! And be sure to stay till the end for a sneak peek of next chapter. ;D
For the next week or so after the court case, an aura of sadness and tension hung over the guild, but it slowly lifted, and things started going back to normal. Of course, Erza was still more stoic than before and less likely to laugh or have fun with them, but she seemed to be dealing relatively well – all things considered. Or at the very least… she was faking it relatively well.
Perhaps aiding in that venture was the fact that the Autumn Festival was fast approaching, and soon everyone was busy with preparations.
For several weeks, everyone stuck around the guildhall to lend a helping hand in putting the festival together. While assisting with the preparations, anyone who wasn't already an S-Class mage went out of their way to show off their magic and teamwork – and whenever there was a break, they took the most imposing jobs they could find – all to try and impress Makarov. Traditionally, the last day of the Autumn Festival was the announcement for the S-Class Trials, so everyone was eager to prove that they deserved to be in the running. Because of this, Natsu and Lucy didn't get much time to go on many dates, but her fiery partner seemed plenty happy with going on dangerous missions and kicking ass. Although, he wasn't as fond of the festival preparations.
On the plus side, the upcoming festival seemed to help keep Erza busy, and she threw herself into it headfirst… which was both good and bad. It was good to see her doing something to deal with her pain, but it also meant that she was bossing everyone else around with an iron fist. As an S-Class mage already, she had no need to take any jobs in an attempt to impress anyone, so she spent all her time getting ready for the festival. And that meant she was always there…ready to snag anyone she saw passing by.
The only thing that mattered though, was that Erza had gone back to normal, mostly, and was once again smiling…sort of. So, despite being positively exhausted, they were all pleased.
After prepping for several weeks, the day of the festival finally arrived, and they all thoroughly enjoyed the time to relax and recover from being slave driven by a single-minded Erza and their own attempts to curry favor.
As with all their celebrations, there was plenty of food, drink, music, and activities to occupy themselves with.
The first day was themed after Thanksgiving and was simply to relax and recover, and everyone took full advantage, stuffing themselves – particularly Natsu of course – and drinking till many were loopy. There was a cornucopia of foodstuffs available, and the largest activity of the day was eating, including a few eating contests just for fun. Of course Natsu won the first, and was banned from all the others, but by winning one he got free food for the rest of the festival.
That night, Lucy, Amy, and Happy had to practically roll him home.
The second day though, was much less relaxing. It was full of challenges and "games" … many of which were poorly disguised tests for the S-Class Trials. All the teams were pitted against each other in competitions – some of them to show strength or endurance, others focused more on strategy, and a few highlighted teamwork. Occasionally the teams were even randomly assigned, which would serve to show how well a mage worked with other mages that they weren't used to teaming up with.
Levy and Gajeel were teamed up against Jet and Droy for one rather spectacular challenge involving something like an Easter egg hunt. Jet and Droy both went after Gajeel, but completely left Levy alone – which turned out to be a big mistake. While Gajeel kept those two busy, Levy ran around and collected all the prizes.
Another slightly odd pairing was Wendy and Mira against Cana and Freed, in a battle for who could catch the most chickens…which of course meant that – in true Fairy Tail style – about a hundred chickens had been released. Since there was a timer on that one, it allowed for several rounds until all the chickens were caught, and the subsequent match-ups were Gray and Juvia against Bickslow and Evergreen, Elfman and Mira against Laxus and Reedus, and Bisca and Alzack against Warren and Sam. By the time that challenge had been completed, they had a large amount of very traumatized chickens to deal with.
The following event was a relay race. The teams consisted of Natsu, Lucy, and Happy – Cana, Wendy, and Carla – the Thunder Legion minus Laxus – Shadow Gear – Elfman, Mira, and Laxus – Erza, Gray, and Juvia – Reedus, Sam, and Warren – and Alzack, Bisca, and Gajeel.
They were spaced out throughout Magnolia since the race would take place through the whole city. The roads they would be using had been blocked off, and people were lining the route to watch and cheer them on as a form of entertainment for the entire town. The race started at the guildhall, looped around Magnolia twice, and then ended back at the guildhall. The first lineup was Lucy, Cana, Evergreen, Droy, Elfman, Erza, Reedus, and Gajeel.
When the horn sounded, the mages all set off in a burst of magic. Evergreen flew, Erza used a very strange bunny costume that apparently increased her speed, Reedus drew a fast cart, and Elfman used the beast takeover of a very speedy spotted feline. Lucy, Cana, Gajeel, and Droy were the only ones who seemed to be running under their own steam, and Gajeel soon pulled ahead of the other three.
Grasping at straws, Lucy pulled the key for Horologium, and breathlessly gasped, "Open! Gate of the clock! Horologium!"
Cana was near enough to hear the summons and shot her a glare. "Hey! That's not fair!"
"Sorry Cana!" Lucy shouted back, but when Horologium appeared with a tick tock sound and a gong, she still asked him, "Can you please slow down time?"
"You have one minute on the clock." he responded, nodding.
Everything around her screeched to a halt, and she hurried to pick up the pace and catch up with everyone while her advantage was still in effect. She ran until her sides burned and managed to pass up Gajeel, Reedus, and Elfman, but the spell ended before she could catch Erza or Evergreen. Still, Gajeel's shocked expression and shout of surprise was worth it.
Before she reached the relay point though, she started running out of spiz, and both Reedus and Gajeel caught up to her. Right as the iron dragon slayer passed her by, Amy popped into being.
"Need a ride?"
"Huh?" Lucy asked, and glanced at the white fluffy dog-wolf running alongside her. "A ride?"
"Yes. A ride." Amy barked, sounding amused, and with a flash of light she shifted into her much larger full-wolf form.
As always, Lucy was a little surprised by just how big she was – almost the size of a small horse really – and suddenly she realized what the oversized canine meant.
"You mean ride you?!"
"Of course."
The white wolf didn't wait for her to mount up, she just ducked her nose under Lucy and slid her onto her back. The celestial wizard squeaked in surprise and grabbed on tight, very nearly falling right back off.
"Are you sure this is okay? Me riding you like this?"
The white wolf swung her head around and snorted in her face. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't be letting you."
"Yeah, true…" Lucy grinned, and then gave her friend a slight scowl. "But you didn't have to sneeze in my face."
A wolfy grin spread her lips, and she let her tongue loll out the side. "Hang on tight!"
And they were off. Amy quickly passed up Reedus and Gajeel again, and soon they reached the relay point – where Lucy tossed the baton to Natsu with a grin.
"Alright Luce! I'm all fired up now!"
He spread his wings and quickly overtook Bickslow and Gray. Bickslow was flying along with his babies, and Gray had made an ice street to skate on, but neither were a match for Natsu and his wings. However, Mira managed to stay a hair in front of Natsu…for a little while at least. She had recently rediscovered her she-devil takeover magic, and she was now putting it to good use by sprouting a super-fast pair of wings.
Droy traded off with Levy, Cana traded off with Wendy, and Gajeel traded off with Alzack shortly after Natsu set off, but they had no chance of catching up to him. The only one who gave him a problem was Sam, who – as soon as Reedus handed over the baton – started shifting in and out of a sand storm to whirl down main street at insane speeds. He managed to catch up to Mira and Natsu near the end of their stretch.
The three of them traded off with Happy, Laxus, and Warren about the same time, but the end of the race was really only between Laxus and Happy. At least at first. Jet was in the running as soon as Levy finally passed off her baton. He shot past everyone to join Happy and Laxus in the front of the pack. Laxus of course could basically travel at the speed of light in short bursts of lightning, and Happy was going consistently at full speed which was about supersonic. The three of them blasted through the finish line, Laxus first, Happy second, and Jet third.
After that much exertion, there was a long break of drinking, eating, and resting.
Then more challenges and games were set up. A rather impressive twister game was arranged first, which Lucy suspected was just for the enjoyment of Master Makarov as he watched them all…. especially the girls. At one point, Lucy ended up twisted around Cana, with poor Wendy stuck underneath them. Nearby, Gajeel and Levy had ended up in an equally compromising position. Naturally, Jet and Droy took it upon themselves to slowly make their way over to the iron dragon slayer and solid script mage, and then it was rather difficult for Lucy to keep her balance as she watched all four of them get tangled up together. She was relatively shocked that nobody died. Equally impressive was the fact that Freed managed to survive being tangled up with Laxus – she was positive he would pass out more than once.
After that, they had a guild-wide game of Pictionary – in which Lucy discovered that Natsu simply couldn't draw to save his life … but could somehow translate even the simplest scribbles. Thanks to that special little talent, they actually managed to win – even though Lucy couldn't guess a single one of his pictures correctly.
…. And then they finished off with strip poker.
Unsurprisingly Natsu lost first, because the idea of a poker face was utterly lost on him – though of course he couldn't care less about his state of undress, so it wasn't really fair. The only thing that bugged him was taking off his scarf, but he perked up as soon as Lucy offered to keep it in her purse.
Naturally, even after he lost, he hung around with Lucy as she continued to play… which meant she had to deal with a stark-naked boyfriend. Since they hadn't been naked together yet – romantically speaking – she did her damnedest to avoid looking at him too hard, because she wanted to save the view for when they were alone, preferably in a bedroom, and not around her fellow guildmates.
Of course he noticed, and teased her mercilessly for it, snarkily whispering in her ear, "What's wrong Luce…you shy?" during her next hand, which was not appreciated. She was doing her best to not lose any clothing, and was doing a damn good job of it too. She didn't need him distracting her, thank you very much.
"No." she hissed back. "I'm not. Now let me focus."
"Are you sure? Cause you're a real interesting shade of pink, and you haven't looked straight at me since I ditched my pants."
She pursed her lips, focused on her hand, and then once her play was over she sent him a sharp look. "I'd rather not look too closely…I want to save that for when we're alone. I don't want my first memory of you naked to be in conjunction with that, that, or that."
Her head nodded at a naked Evergreen taking refuge behind a snickering Bickslow, Elfman trying to pretend that being naked was manly but blushing so hard that it was easy to see he was embarrassed, and Cana waving her bikini top around like some sort of lasso.
Natsu's eyes glittered and he chuckled with mirth at those – and many, many more – scenes of hilarity currently ensuing.
A short while later, Lucy was cussing Natsu out vibrantly as she lost her right boot, thanks to all his distracting, but of course he just flashed his fangs at her an unrepentant grin.
The next round was just as distracting, as she once again noted the scar on his neck – and in between turns, she risked asking him about it.
He sobered, and eventually replied, "I got it trying to rescue the mage I was contracted to before you…many years ago. It was shortly before I got sealed away."
Lucy could smell an intense story a mile away, and this one reeked. So she dropped it there – because this was definitely not the time or place to talk about it. Even so, it cost her another boot.
By the end of the game, she was down to her shirt – sans bra, which she had snuck out through her sleeve to many shouts of "cheater!" – and just her undies. Thankfully she hadn't worn a thong.
The following day was just as crazy as the last, even more-so actually, since it also included a costume contest in preparation of Halloween. There were more games too, and everyone had to be in costume for every game. There was an equal mixture of funny costumes, scary costumes, sexy costumes, and cute costumes.
Makarov came as a wizened sage/pimp, complete with a long pipe, a red velvet pinstriped robe, a red velvet wizard hat, and a super long fake beard. Laxus was a gangster with a sharp suite and a fedora. Mira simply dressed up as a traditional sexy devil using red patent leather, horns, and a pitchfork. And Natsu came as a zombie dragon, using his partial transformation and a lot of makeup to imitate dead patches and bones.
Lucy helped both him and Happy with their costumes of course. Happy and she had come as a pair, with him dressed up as a fish – which he absolutely loved – and her dressed as a mermaid. She had been enamored with the idea of imitating Aquarius, because – despite their differences – the cranky spirit was her dearest and oldest friend. For that, she had constructed a mermaid tail out of a very stretchy skirt that was quite tight down to her knees. From there it puddled out, hopefully imitating a mermaid's fin. The skirt was made of bright iridescent blue sequined material, and the fancy bikini that she wore upstairs was golden, bejeweled, and fashioned more like a bra than a swimsuit. To finish off the look, she had asked Cancer to make her hair long, like Aquarius's.
It was a shame that she hadn't known they would have to compete in the games while wearing their costume…. if she had, she probably would've made something that allowed for a little more leg mobility. At least she wasn't the only one to make that mistake.
On the other hand, some people had come in costumes that actually ended up assisting them in unexpected ways. For the egg toss, Levy didn't have use of her hands, because they were covered by broad fluffy fake wings. She had worn a really cute chicken costume, complete with wings for sleeves, feathery bra, puffy white feathery bloomers, and yellow tights. But even though she didn't have her hands, the costume actually worked in her favor, because the eggs had a very soft and broad landing site. Meanwhile, Gajeel's full suite of armor – complete with helmet – greatly impeded his movement and didn't provide much of a cushion.
There were also various games of tug of war between different teams, and it was difficult for anyone with costuming on their hands to grab the rope. Several costumes didn't survive the experience …. especially since there was plenty of mud to make the ground slick, and many a shoe was ruined or lost because of it. Both Alzack and Bisca had come as cowboys, so the mud didn't really affect their costumes too much, but Lucy ended up looking like she'd been beached after a nasty storm at sea. Likewise, Cana had come as a Greek goddess, probably of wine, but after everything was said and done she looked more like a goddess of debauchery.
The water balloon fight helped some people to rinse off the muck, but it was just more bad luck for most costumes. Freed's posh vampire costume had apparently been rune spelled to dispel dirt of any kind, but it had no protection against water, so he ended up looking like Drowned-Dracula by the end of it. Even worse though, Reedus's parrot costume had been largely painted on, and it began to run, making him look like a very strange blob of bright colors.
It was just lucky that there were two costume contests…the one at the start of the day, and the one at the end. The second costume contest was more a matter of whose costume had survived the best. A mixture of eggs, water, mud, and tears had destroyed more than one completely. Poor Evergreen – who had dressed like a fairy queen – was absolutely in tatters since she mostly wore gauze and chiffon. Meanwhile, Elfman's MANLY werewolf costume just looked better after being beaten up.
Of course Happy hadn't been able to do very well at all, since his paws were inside itty-bitty fins, so he was covered from head to toe in muck. Carla's princess costume was equally mucky, but Happy assured her that she was still just as pretty as ever to him – and Lucy noted with keen interest that the white cat actually seemed flattered.
Funnily enough, Gray's ironic Chippendale outfit had survived pretty well, since there was so little of it. All he had to do to clean up was just freeze all the dirt and chip it off himself. Meanwhile, Juvia's 'housewife' costume – which weirdly consisted of a bathing suit, ruffly apron, chef's hat, pearl necklace, and high heels – had actually survived pretty decently as well, though she looked like she'd been in a chick-fight with someone.
To decide the winners of both costume contests, before and after pictures were taken of everyone and were then submitted to Sorcerer Weekly. The winners would be picked through a poll in the magic magazine.
As for Lucy though, by the end of the day she didn't even care who won. She just wanted to get home and take a hot shower to scrub off all the crud crusted to her skin and hair, and then she fully planned to indulge in a long soak in the tub. Happy was definitely on board with the idea as well, so they both made a beeline for the bathroom as soon as they walked through the door of their apartment. Even Natsu poofed to go back home and take a 'lava bath.'
While they were in the shower, Lucy scrubbed herself until she was pink…which was necessary since the stuff had gotten well and truly stuck to her. But that was nothing compared to her newly lengthened hair. It took what seemed like hours to fully clean that, and it was so much heavier than she was used to that it gave her a bit of a neckache when it was wet.
As she washed, Happy did the same with his own fur, but it still took Lucy's assistance to get it all.
Once they were squeaky clean, they both gratefully sunk into her deep tub. Lucy wrapped a towel around her wet hair – and also to use as a cushion as she leaned her head back against the edge of the tub.
"Man…having long hair is a lot more trouble than I expected. I don't know how Wendy and Erza manage it." she mumbled to Happy, who was resting on her tummy.
"Are you gonna have Cancer cut it again?" he asked, tipping his head back to look at her.
"I dunno…" She honestly hadn't even considered the possibility of keeping it.
"Well I think you should keep it. It's pretty."
She blinked down at her blue companion in surprise. "You think so?"
"Yeah."
"Huh…well, I suppose I could keep it for a while and see how it goes. I can always cut it if it turns out to be too big of a hassle."
After an extended soak, Lucy was almost dozing off when some obnoxious knocking brought her fully back to awareness. "What the…?" she sputtered as she jerked awake with a violent motion that nearly splashed water out of the tub.
Happy made a similarly disgruntled sound, and his tail puffed up with shock and irritation. They both turned to glare at the door.
"Oi! How long are ya planning on stewing?"
"We're soaking! Not stewing! We aren't a pot of soup!" Lucy snapped at her closed bathroom door and the impatient dragon behind it.
A puff of air drew her attention back to Happy, and she immediately noticed that his irritation had been replaced with puffed-up cheeks and barely controlled laughter. "We're making stewed prunes!"
"I'm sorry…what?" she asked, feeling utterly confused.
"You're all pruney!"
She stared at him for a long moment and then groaned as the corny joke finally hit her. "Oh, geez…. Alright Happy, it's obviously past bedtime for you if you're spouting stuff like that."
They both chuckled as they toweled off and got ready for bed. When they finally exited into the bedroom, Lucy tucked Happy into his cat bed first, and then headed to her dresser to make an attempt at drying her hair. Despite being wrapped up in a towel for at least thirty minutes – or however long they'd been soaking for – it was still pretty wet.
Natsu was on the bed, apparently pouting, which he had a tendency of doing whenever he was left alone for too long. Boredom was not something that her hyperactive boyfriend handled very well. And on top of that, ever since she'd laid down the rules for their relationship, he hadn't been particularly enthused about her taking long baths…since he couldn't join her yet. It was kind of cute really.
He stayed on the bed for a little while at first as she attempted to blow dry her hair with a lacrima, but it wasn't too long before warmth washed over her back. "Want some help with that?"
"Yes please…" she sighed in gratitude as she put down her brush and lacrima. "I had no idea that it would take so long to dry."
He hummed in agreement as he set to work, running his fingers through her hair and using his fire to dry it in a jiffy. It felt amazing and she leaned back into the soothing caresses, letting her eyes close in bliss. Lately, he'd been doing this for her on a pretty regular basis – probably because he didn't have the patience to sit and watch her fuss with her hair when he could do it so much faster – and she had quickly learned to love it. So it was a win-win situation.
"Ya know…I like your hair like this Luce. It's pretty." he offhandedly commented as he ran the extra-long strands through his fingers. Then he added, "And there's so much more of it to play with."
She was caught off-guard by the compliment, and then snorted with amusement at his following comment. Natsu was very tactile, so she shouldn't have been surprised that he liked playing with her hair, but it was still pretty adorable. She could see the light happy flush on her cheeks in the mirror, and turned to give him a grin over her shoulder.
"Well, then I guess I have to keep it. If both you and Happy like it so much, I don't have much of a choice."
He met her grin with one of his own.
…
For the next couple of days, there were some more games and challenges, and a lot more food and drink, but eventually the festival had to end. Which meant that the S-Class Trials were finally going to be announced, and on the very last day everyone assembled in the guildhall to eagerly await Master Makarov's announcement.
Natsu seemed almost more excited than her as they waited to see if either of them were on the list, and Lucy could practically feel vibrations of heat shivering off him as he bounced on the balls of his feet. She was actually a little worried that he might accidentally start a fire. It wouldn't be the first time he had played arson simply due to overeagerness.
Finally, the curtain rose and exposed Makarov, Erza, Gildarts, Mirajane, and Laxus all up on the guild stage. A cheer erupted from everyone, and loud calls of, "Just tell us already!" and "Yeah, don't leave us hanging!" rose up from the crowd of eager Fairy Tail wizards.
"Everyone shut up and let the old man speak!" Gildarts grumbled loudly, looking amused.
"Hey, who's that?"
"Oh, that's Gildarts, Fairy Tail's strongest wizard…. Don't you remember his big entrance yesterday? Oh, never mind." Lucy whispered back to Natsu and then shushed him as Master Makarov began to speak.
"In accordance with Fairy Tail's time-honored tradition, I will now announce this year's entrance for the S-Class wizard promotion trial!"
More cheers erupted, and Erza firmly requested, "Everyone please calm down."
Once everyone settled down again, Master Makarov continued. "The trial this year will take place on Tenrou Island, our guild's sacred ground. The strength that you possess inside, your character, and your hearts… these are what I considered while making my selections. And I have chosen seven participants. Cana Alberona, Freed Justine, Levy McGarden, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, Elfman Strauss, and Lucy Heartfilia."
He was forced to pause once again as more noise erupted from everyone listening, but silence abruptly descended again when Laxus shot lightning over everyone's head.
"Although seven wizards have been selected, only one will be chosen to be S-Class. The trials will begin in one week's time, so you better step up your preparations!" he finally finished his instructions.
After a few ticks of silence, cheers blasted from all the participants and other guildmembers, although a few groaned and griped about not being picked. Natsu seemed stuck between complaints and congratulations, and instantly picked a fight when Gray taunted him over not getting chosen.
Yet another exceptionally loud protestor was unsurprisingly Gajeel, as he barked, "Juvia got picked but not me!? What the hell? How's that fair? I thought the old man liked me better!"
"You're just not ready yet." Mira said with a smile from the stage, and Lucy could practically hear Gajeel's teeth grinding.
His hissy fit was cut short though by Master Makarov, as he announced, "For the benefit of our newcomers, let's go over the rules shall we?"
Mira took over at that point and sweetly listed off the rules. "Each participant will pick a partner. This person will also be allowed to train with them during the week leading up to the trials."
"You get to choose a partner?" Natsu muttered excitedly, and Lucy nodded.
"Yeah, a big part of the trial is testing your friendships and how well you work together with your partner."
Erza continued from there, and everyone shut up to listen to her. "Observe these two rules while choosing your partner. Number one, they must be a member of Fairy tail – and number two, they can't be an S-Class wizard."
"We'll reveal all the particular details of the challenge once we arrive on Tenrou Island. But know that you'll have to get past Erza to claim victory." Makarov then said.
A collective exclamation of dismay shook the guild.
"And I'll be doing my very best to weed out the rest of you right alongside her!" Mira announced perkily.
This led to yet another loud burst of noise and chaos as everyone yelped and took a step back. A lot of the chosen participants gulped and looked nervous, while the people who weren't chosen suddenly looked quite relieved instead of sulky.
"Well shoot, that's not good." Lucy muttered, wincing a little. She didn't want to fight anyone up on the stage – they were all more than capable of kicking her ass.
"They'll probably hold back a little." Gray mused from behind her, and she snorted.
"Yeah, still doesn't make me feel better."
"They're gonna crush us." Levy groaned from nearby.
The master cut them all off with one last announcement. "The seven participants that I named earlier and their chosen partners are asked to meet at the port of Hargeon one week from today. So get to work!"
At that, the S-Class announcement ceremony was concluded, and everyone on the stage stepped off. Loud noise erupted as everyone began to talk amongst themselves. The crowd slowly dispersed back to whatever they had been doing before the announcement, and soon the guild was significantly less crowded as people either went out, went home, or went on a mission.
Meanwhile, the chosen participants all parked together at a table to discuss the upcoming trials.
"So we all have to pick a partner huh?" Elfman grunted.
"Yep. Looks like. Who are you gonna pick?" Cana asked him as she absentmindedly drank from her keg-o-wine.
His eyes shifted and glanced over towards a certain green-clad fairy, and Lucy covered a smirk behind her palm. Happy and she shared a look and both snickered a little. Their train of thought was derailed slightly by Levy.
"This is gonna be tough, you guys. We have to beat Erza and Mirajane? And I'll bet you anything the other S-Class wizards are going to be part of it too. Why else would Gildarts come home right before the announcement?"
"I may be the manliest guy here, but thinking about going up against your dad makes me as scared as a little girl!" Elfman exclaimed, shuddering and pointing at Cana.
"Yeah, why does your old man have to be so dang strong?" Gray grumbled.
"Hey, it's not my fault Gildarts is a powerhouse." Cana mused, pursing her lips. "With my luck, I'll probably be the one to go up against him."
"That might work out well for all of us actually. He'll probably go extra easy on you, and then none of us have to fight him." Lucy pointed out.
"I doubt we'll get to choose who we go up against." Levy inserted.
"I'm all fired up now! I don't care who I fight as long as they're tough!"
"You weren't picked, Ash-Breath!"
"I'm gonna be Lucy's partner, Pervy Princess!"
The celestial mage in question raised her eyebrows in surprise at the declaration, since that decision hadn't actually been made yet. She let it slide though, because in all honesty, she probably would have chosen Natsu to be her partner anyways.
"Speaking of…hey Wendy? Would you like to be my partner?" Cana asked as the younger blue-haired mage passed by their table.
"You want me to be your partner?" she asked in a squeaky voice that sounded downright shocked.
"Yeah. You're one tough cookie, and I think we make a great team, don't you?"
"Um, sure! I'd love to help you!"
"Alright! Come and have a seat, Short-Stuff."
Wendy flushed and slid in next to Cana at the table, and Carla hopped up on top and parked next to a suddenly ecstatic Happy.
The white cat mostly ignored him though and focused on expressing her concerns about Wendy joining the S-Class Trials. "I really don't think this is a good idea Wendy. It's much too dangerous."
"Oh come on. Let the girl live a little. You're such a worrywart Carla." Cana laughed, reaching out to tap the white cat's nose.
Carla swatted her hand away and huffed. Recently these three had been going on missions together pretty often, so they'd already built up a good camaraderie.
"So who are you going to partner with Levy?" Lucy asked, choosing to ignore Cana as she proceeded to tease Carla.
"Um…well…" She glanced to the side, where Jet and Droy were currently fighting over who got to be her partner. It didn't look like either of them was making much headway though.
"Hm… I see your problem."
The conversation was brought to an abrupt halt as a tall dark shadow suddenly appeared behind her, towering over her tiny form and completely dwarfing her.
"Yeah I dunno if…uh…" Levy started and then trailed off as she saw Lucy's expression and how the celestial mage was looking high above her head at something behind her. "What's…?"
Turning, she ran nose-first into Gajeel's stomach.
"Geehee…. You're pairing up with me Shrimp."
When she started puffing up at the nickname, he snagged the back off her collar and lifted her into the air with one hand so they were nose-to-nose. "I'll make you bigger than you could ever imagine."
To Lucy's surprise, her blue-haired friend seemed to go limp and nodded meekly while flushing lightly. Grinning a sharp-toothed smile at her, the iron dragon slayer slung her over his shoulder and walked out the door, saying, "We better start training then."
Being tossed over his shoulder finally got a predictable response from the pint-sized script mage, and she kicked both arms and legs as she hollered, "Hey! Put me down! You can't just carry me off like this!"
He paid literally zero attention to her as he strode out the guild doors, oblivious to all the eyes following the pair out the door. Their entire table had watched the episode with concern at first, and then mounting amusement.
"You know…I think she likes him."
Cana nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah. The way she melted like a kitten when he picked her up? For sure. If anyone else tried that on her, they'd be laid out flat on the floor within seconds."
"True that." Gray snorted.
"She's a real man!"
Everyone rolled their eyes at that.
"He's got the right idea though Luce! We gotta go get ready!" So saying, Natsu grabbed her hand and dragged her off with him – Happy quickly flying after them.
"Wait, where are we going?!"
…
A little while later found Natsu, Happy, and Lucy on the beach, far enough from the guildhall that they couldn't be spied on.
"Okay…so…what now?" Lucy gasped, grabbing her knees and wheezing.
Natsu had dragged her along behind him as he barreled full-tilt to their current location, so she was beyond out of breath by this point. That boy sure could run.
"Now you train!" Happy announced, and she glanced up at him with amusement. He had snagged a whistle somewhere and was striking a pose. "I'm gonna be your coach!"
"Aye Sir!" Lucy chirped, smiling.
She wasn't smiling for long though, because - as it turned out - Happy was a devil in disguise.
"Drop and give me ten more pushups!"
"No way…" Lucy groaned, her arms already feeling like jelly. "I can't do it!"
"Natsu! Do twenty!" Happy compromised.
"Aye Sir!"
Doing twenty pushups was nothing for him of course, despite all the pushups he'd already done.
"You know, I don't think this is the kind of training we should be doing…" Lucy protested. "It takes months to actually build muscle, and we only have a week. We should be working on techniques, plans, strategies, working together, increasing our magic…stuff like that."
Happy pouted.
"This isn't bad to do though, we both need to know our physical limits." Natsu pointed out.
"Alright fine. I'm at my limit on pushups then."
"Natsu! Do as many pushups as you can!" Happy had definitely hopped on board.
"Aye Sir!"
After five minutes in, Lucy didn't think he was going to be stopping any time soon. When another five minutes passed, Happy's attention shifted back to her, and they basically ignored Natsu as he continued to do pushups.
"Lucy, do as many sit-ups as you can!"
She groaned, but agreed. It wasn't a bad idea to see where her limit was. So, she laid back and dug her toes into the sand to give her some support. She then proceeded to do as many sit-ups as she could in one set, then rested a moment and did another set. On the third, she finally gave out and reached her limit. Meanwhile, Natsu was still doing pushups.
Eventually he did stop, and by that point he was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, but his broad grin hadn't been affected at all.
After even more exercises, Lucy finally called it quits. She was exhausted, dripping with sweat, and had collapsed onto the warm sand.
As she lay flat on the beach and stared up at the sky – which was starting to turn orange as the sun dropped towards the horizon – she wondered if any of this had been productive. Her introspection was interrupted by Natsu's voice.
"Hey Luce! Catch!"
"Huh?" She lifted her head right in time to get a face full of water as Natsu splashed her. He was wading in the surf, with Happy perched on his shoulder.
"You…!"
Growling, she scrambled to her feet and pursued him, kicking off her sandals and running into the water. She was wearing a short skirt, so it didn't matter if she waded in a little. That didn't save her from getting splashed though as he scooped handfuls of seawater at her. She followed suit, and soon they were both pretty wet as they ran around and chased each other.
She was breathless with laughter as she did her best to catch Natsu. What she would do with him once she caught him, she didn't know… but she was sure she'd figure out something. The next time he bent to grab another handful of water, she put a little extra oomph into her run and finally got within striking distance.
"Lucy Kick!"
She used just enough force to knock him off-balance, and he went face-first into the water as she kicked his behind. His arms cartwheeled through the air as he tried to regain his balance, but it was too late, and he completely dunked under. With a gasp, he reemerged and shook his pink hair to send sprinkles of water in every direction.
She missed the smirk he sent her way, because she was too busy bending over and clutching her sides from laughing so hard. The sensation of his tail wrapping around her ankle snapped her back to attention though, and when she looked up with wide eyes and met his gaze, she saw the mischievous smile planted on his lips. And then he was yanking her off her feet, and she had splashed down into the water too.
"That's cheating!" she protested as soon as she'd spat water out of her mouth.
He just laughed at her.
With a growl, she pounced on top of him and planted her hands on his shoulders, giving him a good sturdy push. He fell over backwards again with a yelp, and she laughed at his shocked expression, which quickly got scrunched up as she dunked his head under. She let him up right away of course, laughing the whole time. He came up with puffed-out cheeks, and she had a brief second to realize what was about to happen before he sprayed water in her face. When she tried to get away, he grabbed her arms to hold her in place on his lap as he sprayed her.
"Ew! Natsu that's gross!" she protested, scrunching her eyes closed and holding her hands up in front of her face as a shield.
The sound of his laugh cued her into the fact that he had emptied his ammunition, and she spread her fingers to peek through them and send a glare his way.
His face abruptly got closer, until his nose was brushing the palms of her hands, and he asked, "Why's it gross?"
"Because you were spiting it at me." she grumbled, scowling at him and keeping her hands between their mouths, knowing he wanted to kiss her. After the stunt he just pulled, she wasn't sure he deserved a kiss.
"So? We've swapped spit before." By now his lips were pressing against her hands, which muffled his words a little.
She scowled at him. "That's disgusting Natsu."
He busted out laughing and pressed his forehead to hers as he continued to snicker. His hands slid down her arms and up to her wrists, where he latched on and gave a good solid yank. Her hands were pulled away from her mouth and his lips landed on hers. She thought about pulling away… but then got too wrapped up in the kiss to do so. As if to prove his point, he made sure to deepen the kiss and sneaked his tongue into her mouth. With that, she was gone, and melted into it completely, kissing him back with just as much enthusiasm. A tiny lick of fire tingled across her tongue, just a tease, and she instantly wanted more and pressed closer with a small noise.
He pulled back and chuckled. "I don't hear you protesting."
She opened her eyes to give him a glare. "Alright, you made your point. Now shut up and kiss me some more."
His eyes widened slightly as she reached up and grabbed a fistful of pink hair to pull him back to her. This time it was him who made a small noise in the back of his throat as she sealed her lips over his. As their lips parted and the kiss deepened, he apparently lost control of his fire and heat suddenly blazed into her mouth, burning her tongue and sliding down her throat. It tasted like fire whisky, like something spicy, sweet, and smoky…with that biting burn of fine liquor with a high alcohol content. She'd never thought the sensation of burning from the inside out would be pleasant, but it was…at least when it came to kissing Natsu and swallowing his fire.
Suddenly they were interrupted by a slightly bored voice saying, "Gross. Get a room you two. You're scaring the fishes."
With a gasp, Lucy jerked back, having completely forgotten that they weren't alone. Happy was a little ways off, perched on a stone at the edge of the shore, and he'd pulled out his fishing pole and was highly focused on the water under his perch. Apparently they had bored him with their water fight, and he'd flown off at some point to entertain himself with his favorite pastime.
After that, all that was left to do was go home and dry off, while Lucy ignored the truly spastic butterflies in her stomach that had spawned from their kiss.
Sneak Peek
"So Luce, what kind of training did you wanna do?"
"Well…I think meditating to increase my magic reserves would be helpful for starters. Then we can work on joint attacks and stuff like that."
His grin widened. "Meditation huh? That's perfect. You know, I think we should go on a short trip, just the two of us. Get away from it all you know?"
"Just the two of you? What am I supposed to do while you're off training!" Happy squawked, his fur ruffling with indignity.
"You could stay with Wendy and Carla. If they're staying in town to train."