A New Family

Chapter 25

The S-Class Exam

Natsu and Wendy continued to train as hard as they could. All the while, Wendy progressed with flying colors. Her strength and intelligence skyrocketed until they finally knew that it was finally time to test how strong she truly was.

The night before the exam, Natsu decided to turn in early which left the girls alone. They were in the living room with Lucy playing around with Wendy. Because of her training, she didn't really get to spend a lot of time with Lucy and this was the best time to do it. Lucy was always the best person to go to if someone needed some comfort.

"So you excited about tomorrow?"

"Um, I don't know. Doing all of this training with Natsu-san really helped, but doing the actually thing is always worse."

"Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you'll be great. Just remember that we're always thinking of you."

"I just hope that I don't have to fight Gildarts. He's definitely the scariest S-Class mage in our guild."

"Haha. Yeah he is. Anyone Natsu was afraid of is definitely someone not to think low of."

"But Natsu-san is so strong now. Nothing scares him anymore."

"I know it seems like that, but everyone's scared of something." At that moment, Wendy turned around and looked right at Lucy.

"There's no way. Natsu-san is the strongest person in this world. Nothing could possibly scare him. That's why I look up to him. He reminds me that strength comes from more than just power alone." Lucy suddenly pulled her into a hug and smiled.

"You've grown up so much, but you haven't realized it. Natsu is afraid. He always is; he just hides it from everyone else. I can see it. He's scared of losing the people he cares about. I know that there's nothing to worry about anymore, but when he lost Igneel, I could tell that something inside of him changed. He devoted himself to getting stronger in hopes that he would never have to go through something like that ever again." Wendy looked up and saw that Lucy had her eyes closed with a saddened look on her face.

"Momma?"

"Seeing you get strong would make Natsu so happy. So just promise that you'll do your best no matter what happens."

"I promise." Lucy opened her eyes and smiled as she kissed Wendy on her head. "But… how come you don't try to be S-Class?"

"I'm already surrounded by such strong people. You and Natsu are so strong that I don't have to worry about anything. I've already gained enough power to be with all of my spirits again so that's enough for me," she said as she looked down at Aquarius' key. "You don't need to worry about me."

"But I think you'd make an awesome S-Class mage."

"Haha, thank you Wendy, but I just don't think that kind of thing is for me. Anyway, you should get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow. I don't want you tired for something that requires you to be at your absolute best."

"Okay, good night."

"Goof night. I know you'll do great tomorrow." After that, they sent each other off with a good night kiss and awaited the big day of magic.

When the next morning came around, everyone got ready as soon as they could and made their way to the Fairy Tail Stadium. This building was almost like the one in Crocus for the Grand Magic Games, but on a little smaller scale. They walked into the stadium and saw that it was already filling up with fans from Magnolia. The member of the guild were in the booth made for them while there were a couple of members standing in the middle of the field. Laxus was waiting for them, ready to explain the rules of the exam. He raised his arms which got the stadium to quiet down.

"Welcome everyone to the S-Class Exam featuring Wendy Marvell. For those who don't know the rules, I'll explain. Any member of Fairy Tail is allowed to challenge for an S-Class spot. However, in order for them to become S-Class, another mage of S-Rank is chosen at random by you and the two of them will fight. Whoever is left standing or is recognized by the S-Rank mages as being adequate will achieve S-Rank." Wendy looked at the members in front of her and saw a scary lineup or people.

Gildarts, Erza, Mirajane, Gray, Gajeel, and Natsu. Since Laxus was the guild master, he couldn't fight and this made Wendy feel a little better.

"Cast your votes now!" The lacrima screen above the field started to calculate the fight. Wendy looked up to see how things were going. Gildarts, Erza, and Natsu were the top three hopefuls which made Wendy quickly get scared again. Those were the three she was worried about most. The voting continued and Erza suddenly dropped out of fighting. Once the voting was complete, her opponent would be Natsu. "We have our fight. Let's begin!" At that moment, everyone except for Natsu and Wendy disappeared from the field.

"Good luck Wendy!"

"You got this!"

"Show him what's up!" She heard shouts from everyone in the stadium and they were all cheering for her. Of all the people she could fight, she would have to fight Natsu… The person who knows her most.

"Alright Wendy, you ready?" She looked around a little bit longer before looking right at him with a nod. "I'm not gonna hold back so show me everything you've got." At that moment, Natsu engulfed his entire body in fire and let everyone in the stadium know that he was serious. Returning the favor, Wendy ordered the air around her to circle the area. The two of them both had a threatening aura to them, but there was something a little different about the two of them. Wendy had the desire to win while Natsu was only trying to stop her. That alone gave Wendy the advantage. She was finally ready to test her full strength as a Dragon Slayer.

End of Chapter 25