Summary: Doranbolt has to apologise to the person whose spot on the exams he had stolen. Just another theory of mine.

Pairings: Implied Natsu/Lucy, Elfman/Evergreen, Juvia/Gray, Gajeel/Levy, Juvia/Gajeel friendship, Cana/Lucy friendship, Juvia/Everyone else friendship, and a few other general family feels between everyone.

YouTube Prompt: A Natsu/Lucy video to this parody song: watch?v=ZhcBtN2ryQU because it was literally written for them.

After what could only be described as the most successful day yet in the Magic Games, Fairy Tail cheerfully left the stadium feeling a little tired (it had been a busy and hectic day) but mostly eager to start partying in celebration of Erza, Cana, Laxus, and Wendy's awesomeness. They had just reached the gates when Doranbolt teleported out of nowhere and knelt before Master, like a knight kneeling before his king.

"Master," he breathed reverently, "I wanted to apologise for infiltrating your guild, for lying and spying on you and your own, and for failing to be there when you needed help."

Master shrugged almost uncaringly which enraged Erza a little bit (she couldn't help but tearing up at such a noble and heartfelt apology). "It's not me you should apologise to," he said cheerfully. "But the person whose place in the S-Class exams you stole. I'll forgive you if they do."

"Fair enough," Doranbolt coughed uncomfortably. "Please direct me to who I should be apologising to."

Gajeel stepped forward. He knew he was meant to be the eighth candidate in the exam, after all he was strong, he had proven himself loyal, and if fucking Salamander can be a candidate then so can he!

But the Master's eyes slid past him and landed on someone behind him. "Lucy." He said warmly, "Doranbolt wishes to apologise to you."

"WHAT?!"

Gajeel was pleased to say that he wasn't the only one who screamed in disbelief. Virtually everyone else in the guild did too, including Bunny girl.

"M-me?" Bunny Girl added in a stutter.

"Of course," Master patted the small of her back, missing her bottom by mere inches and therefore escaping a brutal and bloody murder at the hands of Mirajane (whose hand lit up in preparation for the moment Master's hand did slide down). "Who else?"

Who else? Who else? Who fucking else? Gajeel's indignation took over his senses. "What about me?!" he snarled.

Master frowned disapprovingly at him and Gajeel couldn't help but choke a little at the disappointment that laid in his guild master's eyes. "You know why not, Gajeel," Master said calmly.

Oh. Right. He was still a spy back then. Sure it was at Master's order, and he personally knew that Gajeel was loyal to the bone to him, but if he had made it to S-Class, Ivan would have used it against him, and he might have not had the chance to do the right thing. Thank God his cover is now blown and he can chill with Lily and the Shrimp at home without any worries.

"Yes," Bunny Girl butted in whiningly. "But why me?!"

"Think about it," Master said in his best (and rarely used) teacher's voice. "Why did I choose the others?"

Bunny Girl frowned lightly at that. "Well," she nibbled at her bottom lip and Gajeel gagged at the disgustingly lovesick expression on Salamander's face. "Freed was obviously chosen because he had been brave to stand up to Laxus," she shot an apologetic look at Laxus who merely shrugged and grunted in reply, "and then willingly worked to redeem himself for his behaviour. He had proven himself to be a strong, principled, Fairy Tail wizard who is willing to admit when he is wrong."

Freed, the complete pansy, blushed bright red at that. "Correct," Master said, "And?"

"You picked Elfman because he managed to get past his own fears and insecurities. He had shown strength, love, and devotion, as well as reaching his own magical potential during the battle with Phantom Lord."

Elfman flushed pink. "I was MAN!" he shouted as he pumped a fist in the air. Evergreen rolled her eyes but Gajeel would swear (much to his disgust) that she also gazed at the bulky man with adoration.

"Levy because she had been brave, and kind, and shown a different kind of strength by forgiving Gajeel," this time the apologetic look was shot at Gajeel but he ignored it in favour of staring at the Shrimp. She was a little pink at the edges which clashed with her orange dress, but overall gazed at him with something he couldn't quite name. "Juvia had been chosen for a similar reason to Freed. She had been the first to show repentance for her crimes but at the same time she has proven to be loyal and loving, and incredibly strong when making sacrifices."

"Juvia loves Fairy Tail," the crazy Rain Woman mumbled shyly, "just as much as she loves Gray-Sama."

"Oh Juvia!"

Several of the girls swamped the water mage with loving embraces while the blokes just shuffled around sheepishly.

"Natsu had been chosen because he had grown up a bit. According to Happy he stopped insisting on fights constantly and isn't dropping everything for the slightest rumour about Igneel. He has proven that he is ready enough to be tested," Bunny Girl then smiled up at Salamander and they shared an icky moment that Gajeel could have lived without seeing. "Gray had been chosen because he too had grown up, but in a different way, he had finally confronted his past and mended bridges with Lyon."

The Ice Bastard shifted on his feet and looked away but when Rain Woman grabbed his hand, he squeezed it and smiled….before he realised what he did and jumped away. Too late, Gajeel could see his best friend daydreaming about what her future babies with the Ice Bastard would look like.

"And for Cana," Bunny Girl hesitated for a moment, "I think it was more to give her the opportunity to grow and realise that she doesn't need to be S-Class to tell Gildarts the truth. Which is why you have always nominated her."

Everyone turned to face Master to see if Bunny Girl had been correct. He grinned stupidly at them all. "Lucy is quite right," he said, "just as I knew she would be."

Cana let out a low whistle. "Well its official," she said as she proudly smacked Bunny Girl on her backside causing Bunny Girl to yelp (Cana had no potential murder to worry about…well not from Mirajane anyway, Salamander was an entirely different story). "We would have all lost."

"Yep," Ice Bastard agreed. "We would have been doomed."

"You don't know that!" Salamander protested. "I could have totally beaten Lucy!"

"Yeah right. Lucy had worked out where the grave was," Gray informed him, "which was something you certainly didn't do unless you have something you want to tell us. Like you secretly having a brain."

"WHAT?!" Salamander bellowed totally ignoring the insult as he grabbed hold of Bunny Girl and shook her. "WHERE WAS IT?"

"Route E!" Bunny Girl blurted out as she pushed Salamander away. "It was easy when you saw the riddle."

"THERE WAS A RIDDLE?!" This time it was the Shrimp that screamed. She clutched her hair despairingly and looked rather anguished. "Why didn't I notice there was a riddle?!" she asked in a screeching voice that grated on Gajeel's ears. She then shot him a glare. "This is your fault!" she shouted as she pointed at him.

"My fault?!" Gajeel barked. "How is it my fault?!"

"You distracted me!"

"Natsu…" Happy said loudly as he flew over everyone's heads. "Didn't you go on Route E?"

Salamander looked blank for a moment and then laughed pathetically. "Oh yeah," he scratched the back of his head, "I must have walked right past it."

"…Idiot."

"WHAT WAS THAT, ICE PERVERT?!"

"I WAS ONLY TELLING THE TRUTH, FLAME BRAIN! AFTER ALL I'M NOT THE ONE THAT WALKED PAST A GRAVE AND THOUGHT NOTHING OF IT!"

"YEAH – WELL AT LEAST I'M DRESSED!"

"CRAP!"

"Honestly," Cana shook her head, "you both deserve to lose to Lucy."

"I don't even want to be S-Class!" Bunny Girl wailed despairingly.

"THAT MAKES IT WORSE! OI, DON'T COPY ME! I SAID DON'T COPY ME! WHY YOU-"

Meanwhile not so far away Sabertooth looked on at what they thought was the weirdest and most embarrassing thing a guild could do. Half the members of Fairy Tail were fighting, some were screaming, and one of the poor Council Members looked like he was being pulled into a mix of a group hug and a chokehold. It was rather difficult to tell from this angle. "What the hell…?" Rogue summed up in a disturbed voice.

The white haired member of Lamia Scale patted him on the back sympathetically. "We learnt not to ask…"

And much to Sabertooth's horror all of Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Quarto Cerberus all nodded.

What the hell was wrong with Fairy Tail?!

(At the end of the day, after they got kicked out for fighting, Lucy never found out why she had been chosen for the eighth spot, but everyone else knew. After all who else had grown, proven their strength, their intelligence, and their love and loyalty to Fairy Tail? Natsu and Gray couldn't help but be grateful that Lucy didn't go through the S-Class exam….she, Mira, and Erza would have made a terrifying team together.)