It's already late afternoon. The street lamps are lighted and the people are gathered around many set of tables covering less than a hundred meters of the road. Basically, the whole road is their dining hall for their festivities.

Due to the defeat of the water drakes, the village threw an impromptu feast, celebrating the return of their days of fishing in the lake without worries. The feast itself wasn't that grandiose, it's the laughter and smiles of the villages that made the feast bigger than it really was.

The three fairies offered half of the killed water drakes for them to cook. Their surprisingly delicious meat are cooked into various dishes which were placed on each tables along with other local delicacies.

At the end of the table sat Natsu, Juvia, and Happy, eating to their hearts content. It's only fair that they ate like a pig, well Natsu and Happy are, since they've been enduring their hunger while waiting for the drakes to be cooked.

"Natsu, I wanna go to vacation here sometime! Look at all these fishes!" Happy happy said with a lot of fish servings in front of him.

"I think it's a good idea, Happy. Although we can't have these water drake delicacies anymore next time."

And just like that they resumed to rapidly filling their abysmal stomach like there's no tomorrow. Unlike the two, Juvia just ate at a rather slow pace, savoring each type of food. However, if there's something the three would agree, it's that the food and the people here are great.

On their table, they are also joined by the chieftain, who's now wearing a rather relaxed and joyful expression compared to the first time they've seen her.

"Ahem. I may have already said it to you earlier but... Let's me just thank you for accepting and finishing the job, Fairy Tail wizards."

"No problem, ma'am. That's what us wizards are for." Juvia replied.

"As for the reward, we regrettably only have 50,000 jewels ready for payment. We deeply apologize for this miniscule payment for such a dangerous job."

This time, it's Natsu who replied to the chieftain. "Nah, don't worry ma'am, we're not really here for the money. Plus the feast is great, the best I have in a while!"

"Oh, such a noble mage you are. I think I didn't know your names yet. Mind telling me?"

That's right. They haven't really introduced their selves as they immediately went to look for the drakes before they could do so. To be honest, this is one of the reasons why Natsu is known by his moniker "Salamander". He mostly doesn't bother something fancy like introducing names while on a job that's why his previous clients just named him after a fire lizard of legend.

"I'm Natsu, and these are Happy and Juvia." he introduced while pointing to his teammates who waved at the chieftain.

"I see. I think we still haven't paid enough so just ask anything and we'll try to give it to you."

Natsu thought about it for a second. For him, he doesn't really have anything he wants at the moment. Well, the food is already a bonus as his main objective here is just to take Happy to a quest of his choice and to distract himself from the less than proper statement he heard from his teammates.

He turned to Juvia if she has something in mind. "Juvia, you decide. Maybe you have something you want. I mean, me and Happy pretty much have what we want with all these food so..."

"Eh, what Juvia wants? Let Juvia think for a moment."

Despite how she previously acts around Gray due to her infatuation, Juvia is actually serious when it comes to decision-making. So she thought hard on what would the three of them would benefit from that isn't money.

It was then that she remembered the remaining five water drakes and the scales of the ones the village cooked for the feast. Maybe they can point them to a market where they buy these kind of products.

"Juvia has something to ask Ms. Chieftain, it's about the remaining water drakes..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the chieftain cut her off. "Ah that. After we're done eating, I'll give you a perfect storage for those."

'It's not really what Juvia wanted to ask but that works too.'

Now that she thought about it, having a storage for those dead drakes is great. That way, she don't have to immediately dispose them and could have more time in thinking what to do with those.

Natsu, who just heard what the chieftain suggested, decided to join the conversation. "Woah! That way, we can have another feast when we get back to the guild! I'd say we'll immediately go back to Magnolia tomorrow!"

However, it was Happy who decided to break his fantasies. "Eh Natsu, I thought we're camping on the way home."

He forgot that the guild, especially his teammates, isn't really fond of seeing him right now because of the previous job, and the main reason he took this job in the first place which is to spend time with Happy.

"Oh right, I forgot. Sorry about that, buddy."

The three left the village, carrying two ice box looking storage devices given to them by chieftain. The box was surprisingly convenient with its massive storage capacity despite its small size and the function of freezing the time of what's inside of it. The chieftain said that she was using them two years when she was just a normal fisherman, stating that the box is perfect for storing perishable goods. In a nutshell, the 'icebox' is just a magic item version of Requip magic with time freezing features.

Of course the three was amazed by the object. From their perspective, it's been only a few weeks ago that a magic item of such capability was non-existent yet this one here is considered as a basic item for fishermen. Well, no one can really blame them for being amazed as they're literally non-existent for almost a decade.

"Cool, these ice boxes sure are handy. Happy, we're gonna store here some of the fishes we catch on the way home."

"Aye!" came the Exceed's signature line.

Not to repeat the same mistake, they went to central market to buy essentials.

"So how should we split the money?" Juvia asked the two. They now have to split the money because both of them have separate uses for it.

"How about me and Happy will get half and you get the other half." Natsu stated while Happy jist nodded in agreement to his partner.

"But it's unfair, Juvia will end up having more money than you both." she protested.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Natsu and I are inseparable that we practically count as one. Besides, he just said that it should be divided by half because he's not good with numbers." Happy replied smugly.

"Oi, you're no better than me in maths!"

Their bickering went for a few minutes before Juvia broke it to them, saying that they should now to the stores of their choice. The two stopped and they decided to split the reward money by three.

It was at the park that they decided to meet up after their respective shopping. Natsu and Happy finished first as the only thing they really need to buy was just some pairs of clothes for the dragon slayer. Happy decided not to buy any more fishes as they're just gonna fish whenever they pass by an appropriate body of water on the way to Magnolia.

"So, how long do you think will Juvia take before finishing her shopping and meeting us here?" Happy asked.

"I don't know, maybe an hour?"

"Hmm, wanna bet? If she takes more than an hour, I win. Then if she doesn't, you win. How's that sound?" Happy proposed while waving a 1,000 jewel bill.

"Hey, it's unfair! You know girls take forever to shop!" he protested.

"No, you're just saying that because you're afraid of losing."

Losing definitely is one Natsu's button. As Happy pressed it, he has no other option but to accept his conditions. "Fine, a thousand jewel for Juvia meeting us before an hour."

Just after he replied, a girl with a blue hair came running towards them. "Sorry for waiting, Natsu-san and Happy-san!"

Juvia was done with her shopping relatively fast compared to his other female guildmates. Well, Natsu had unfortunately been the girls' pack mule before and it was not a pleasant experience in the slightlest. But right now, a girl shopping is the cause of him winning a bet.

Natsu turned towards Happy in a smug look. "Well, look at that. Come on Happy, pay up!"

Happy looked a bit dejected while handing him a 1,000 jewel bill. Juvia who just arrived is confused on what just transpired. But when Natsu shouted about he won or something, she realized that it's about a betting game that involved her. With that, her face suddenly formed a scowl.

"What is wrong with you?! Juvia is not a subject for gambling!"

When Natsu turned to the water mage's direction, what he saw was just a rather cute pout on her face. Out of sheer curiosity, he lifted his finger and poked her left cheek, laughing at the bouncy sensation he got from doing so.

"Look Happy, Juvia looks like a squirrel!"

Happy decided to join him and poked her other cheek with his paws. "You're right Natsu, Juvia is a squirrel!"

This made Juvia more embarrassed and angry as her face became redder and redder. That is until she couldn't take it anymore as she slapped the two in the face with such force that they're knocked back for about five meters.

"Don't make fun of Juvia!"

For Natsu, he should be cowering in fear right now because an elemental mage of his weakness is staring daggers at him. However, for some reason, he just wanted to stare back at her eyes, feeling somewhat comfortable with their connected stares. This didn't go unnoticed to Juvia as she also wonders why is the dragon slayer staring at her blankly.

"Well, um... I'm sorry, Juvia. But seriously, you looked cute with that pout earlier." he then scratched the back of his head while laughing awkwardly.

Juvia then just turned her head away from him with a "Hmph!". Happy on the other hand just witnessed quite a development that he should share to a certain white-haired demon matchmaker back at the guild. He's about to interrupt them but decided not to as he wanted to witness any more of these developments.

"Oh come on Juvia, that was just one time! I promise I'll never do it again."

"You promise?"

"Um, yeah."

"Good, because if Natsu-san brakes it, we'll gonna catch a train back home."

It's not that Juvia was actually angry at Natsu. In fact, it's quite the opposite because she just found out that someone became comfortable to her around they would go as far as teasing her but not out of spite. It's very different in contrast to her previous love interest that would go as far as running away from her even if she's not doing anything. Okay, she did went to extremes with him quite a few times but it still hurts that he would deny her feelings like it's the most disgusting thing for him.

However, what occupied her mind right now is how Natsu openly admitted that he finds her cute. Although she's aware of some people's lustful stares, no man in her whole life called her cute except for her father who died several years ago.

Natsu immediately noticed Happy's smirk and decided to confront him about it. "Hey, what are you grinning about?"

"Oh nothing, just excited about the amount of fish I would get from this."

What Happy means is that he'll surely be rewarded by Mirajane if he were to report this juicy developments to her. And as expected, he imagine the reward being a lot of fishes. However, Natsu misunderstood this as just him being excited for all the fishes they could get on the way to Magnolia.

"Yeah, I'm excited too!"

"That's... Yeah, fishes..."

Juvia noticed that the two wasn't talking of the same thing but she just ignored it because it probably wasn't that important or something that concerns her. If only she knew...

Now that they're ready, they started their journey on foot on the way to Magnolia. Due to Oak town being a home to Phantom Lord, Natsu and Happy haven't got the chance travel here by foot as their only travel here is during the war between two guilds. That is why both of them is excited for this rare opportunity.

They stopped to camp in the middle of the forest near a dirt road. This time, Juvia is prepared that's why she now have a tent to set up next to Happy. As usual, Natsu just tied his hammock next to both of their tents.

Dinner time came and Natsu set their campfire. Because he wanted to eat some fire himself, he lighted it using traditional method of rubbing two dried twigs together instead of lighting it with his magic. Even without the help of his magic, the campfire still lighted pretty easy due the strength and speed he used in rubbing the twigs together.

Juvia, on the other hand, prepared some fishes in a recipe that she once studied to cook for Gray before. In fact, the cooking skills she has today is due to her practicing various dishes to impress the ice mage, despite the said person didn't appreciate them at all. Well, at least now her cooking skills will be appreciated by the two heavy eaters, especially Happy when it comes to fish.

"Dinner's ready!" she shouted, gaining the attention of the two who came running towards her.

Even with food stuck in mouth, Happy decided to praise her work. "Mmmm mmmm mmm mm!"

"Please Happy, don't talk with your mouth full." Juvia scolded the cat. For some reason, Natsu understood what Happy is talking about and nodded in agreement. That's why she turned towards him. "What did he just say, Natsu-san?"

"Well, he said that these cookings are great. Heh, Ice Stripper didn't know what he's missing out!" he praised while he continues to eat.

"Eh, b-but Gray-s-san always rejects them."

"No, seriously, these are great! It's just that prick who don't appreciate good food!"

And once again, Juvia was startled by the sudden compliments coming from

arguably the most dense member of the guild. This time, she resigned herself and just took the compliment whether it is true or not. 'At least he cares enough for Juvia.'

(back at the guild)

Due to the financial problems and overall rankings of the guild these past seven years, the now sixth master Makarov decided to participate in the Grand Magic Games. That is because it's killing two birds with one stone. The prize money is a hefty 30,000,000 jewels and it's a shortcut to letting everyone know that Fairy Tail is the number one guild in all of Fiore.

"Listen up, brats! We are going to participate in the Grand Magic Games!"

The announcement caused a massive cheers from the guild members. Some of the members who are present in these past seven years shed a few tears, now hopeful that they'll finally be free from the ridiculing of other guilds.

"The event will be three months from now so I'll give you that time to train. Let's work hard to retrieve that title, brats!"

As a way to encourage the members in their training tomorrow onwards, the guild threw a party that lasted until late night. There were drinks, food, and the ever present brawl between members that just sent the other members laughing. This is because tomorrow, they will putting their selves to the training of their lives if they want to reclaim the title.

And thus when the party ended, they formed their respective groups to train for the upcoming games. Some stuck to their own regular groups while others joined with the other groups. There are also the likes of Macao and Wakaba who didn't bother forming a training group because they know the games are just way out of their league.

After the party, outside the guild house stood Team Natsu without the man the team was named after. As the team with some of the most powerful members of Fairy Tail, they're expected to train harder than the rest as some, if not all, will surely be picked as a participant for the games.

"So, where's the ash-breath?" the ice mage complained.

As the one on somewhat equal fighting capability, Gray needed Natsu here with them in their training so that their progress will increase to significant levels.

"If I remember correctly, he and Happy took a drake extermination job on Oak town." Erza replied. "This is bad. He tends to go home by foot every time only Happy is with him on a quest."

However, the other two couldn't really care less about the missing member of the team because they still held some grudge about the last job they took together. In fact, they're actually relieved that the dragon slayer is missing so that they won't have to deal with his antics for the whole three months.

"Well whatever, not like we need him to train."

"I think he's more of a nuisance if he's here because we have to deal with his stupid motion sickness on the way to where we're training." Lucy added.

At the corner of the group stood Wendy who can't believe that they just talked like that behind her fellow dragon slayer's back. That remark from Lucy also made her feel uncomfortable because she knows how terrible a dragon slayer's motion sickness feels if not for her Troia. She also noticed no one in her team mentioned about Juvia being also absent. She's about to say something but decided not to because she's too shy to say it.

Erza didn't mind the two's complaints about their missing teammate as she just went to the door of the guild and left a note about what Master Makarov announced just a while ago. Although she's aware of what her other teammates are angry about Natsu, she didn't join the hate party as she's aware of her own destructive tendency which is not that far from his.

"Alright, I left him a note at the door. For now, go home and have a good rest. We'll be meeting tomorrow 9 A.M. at the station. Are we clear?" She commanded, which made the three, four including Carla, stiffen up.

"Yes ma'am!"

A/N: It's not that I hate Gray. In fact, I like him as a character, It's just that for me, there's no way to make a NaVia fic without making him a total ass. That's because Gray and Juvia just matched very well in their canon counterparts.