Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I own nothing! I just like putting the characters into embarrassing situations and messing with their heads. All pairings are ones that I particularly enjoy using in my stories. Also, the wonderful Pradesh family belongs to the amazing Desna.

Chapter 2: Frozen Angel

Kinana stared out at the guild as she stood nervously on the stage next to a cheerful Mira. The panel of judges were lined up in front of the stage with the rest of the spectators behind them. It was bad enough that she had to do this in front of her guild, but there were more than just Fairy Tail here. Sabertooth, White Sea, and Crime Scorcier were all present at the moment and the guildhall was packed to capacity.

"So Mira, your first pairing," Guild Master Kaleb from White Sea asked from his spot at the judging table.

"My first ship is Gruvia!" Mira chirped with a cute smile. Those who knew her well enough knew not to be fooled by that smile, it was her polite public mask that said she was going to enjoy torturing you while sipping tea before grinding your bones for fertilizer.

"And your reasoning behind this pair?" Kaleb asked. He was still very confused about how he had been talked into this. Then again, a promise from Vander to behave for the rest of the year was very much worth the headache this would end up being.

"Ever since they met up there's been chemistry. Juvia is very much in love with Gray and I catch Gray sneaking glances at her when he thinks nobody is watching him," Mira cooed as she eyed the two she was talking about. She was a bit disappointed to note that Gray was glaring at her rather than blushing as she had hoped. Mira had a second reason for agreeing to this. She was hoping to use the reactions of her guildmates to see who was secretly dating already.

"So, history," Ambassador Predesh said, actually making notes about this. "And you Miss Kinana? Do you agree with her assessment on this pairing?"

"If couples were made based on history alone, then everyone in this guildhall would be viable for that argument," Kinana mumbled, blushing fiercely as she looked down at the wooden stage at her feet.

"Then do you have a better fucking pairing?" Cobra, the third and final judge, snorted. He had been both threatened and bribed to be the third judge. Kaleb due to his Mind-bending magic, Ambassador Pradesh due to his sound magic, and finally Cobra due to his soul listening magic. Though it wasn't quite fair seeing as Kinana was his best friend and Kin.

"I...I chose to pair Gray with…" Kinana said as the memory of how this pair came to the forefront of her mind.

_o0o_

"Come on, pick up!" Kinana muttered as she stared at her communication lacrima in frustration.

As soon as she was done at the bar last night, Mira had handed her a list of her ships for the competition. It had her ship name and next to that was the names of the couple that it stood for. There were twelve in total, and Kinana had nearly had a heart attack when she saw that her name was on the list. Well, her's and Erik's were on the list anyway.

Most of the names were expected. Gray and Juvia, Gajeel and Levi, and Natsu and Lucy, but then there were unexpected names as well. Max and Laki were one pair, then there were the twin dragons from Sabertooth paired with other tigers. Honestly, the one that made her the most uncomfortable was the one for Romeo and Wendy. Granted the two of them were older, in their mid-teens, but still, that was awkward for Kinana.

"Cu? What the hell's eatin' at you?" Cobra's voice suddenly brought Kinana back to what she had been doing to begin with.

"Erik! You need to help me!" Kinana nearly sobbed as she clutched the lacrima closer to her as she looked at her best friend. "Mira...she's...she's a demon!"

"What the fuck? Cu, calm down and start at the beginning," Cobra growled. He hated seeing his kin cry.

"I was railroaded, they ganged up on me and now I'm in a stupid shipping war!" Kinana wailed as she flopped backward on her bed holding the lacrima over her.

"A what war?" Cobra asked, more than a bit confused.

"Ooh! I heard Shipping!" Merudy squealed, causing Cobra to growl as she slammed into his back to look at Kinana in the Lacrima. "Hi, Kina!"

"Hi Merudy," Kiana giggled as she watched Cobra try to get the pink-haired mage off of his back.

"What's this I hear about shipping?" Merudy asked, ignoring Cobra who was hissing at her.

"Mira and Cana somehow wrangled me into a shipping war," Kinana pouted as she looked at the two mages. It was silent for an entire minute as they processed what she had just said before they both fell over laughing hysterically. "It's not funny!"

"Cu, that is the funniest shit I think you've ever gotten yourself into," Cobra howled as he laughed.

"Erik!" Kinana whined.

"Sorry, I agree with Cobra here, that's hysterical, but it is also really dangerous. Friendships have been destroyed by shipping wars. This isn't something to take lightly," Merudy said, finally managing to get her laughter under control.

"That's what I was afraid of, but then Cana overheard Mira and I talking about ships and she turned it into a competition of some sort and now we have to present our ship in front of the entire guild in one week." Kinana groaned. She didn't even know where to begin with figuring out ships, or who would be best with whom.

"Are their rules to the competition?" Cobra asked as he finally sat up.

"Yeah, no help from any boyfriends, my ships must be at least one person from Mira's list, no repeats, and all ships must be justified in some aspect and can't be just because we think they'd be cute together." Kinana rattled off as she sat up as well. "I was hoping that you could help me out?"

"But doesn't that go against the first rule?" Merudy asked as she looked between the two of them.

"No," both Cobra and Kinana said at the same time.

"It'd only be cheating if we were dating," Kinana said, not realizing she was putting the wrong thought into Merudy's head.

"When did you two Mate?!" Merudy squealed, causing Cobra to drop the lacrima and slam his hands over his ears at the high pitch from both her soul and voice.

"Shut that shit up right now bubblegum demon!" Cobra snarled while taking a swipe at his pink-haired team member.

"But," Merudy chirped as she lept out of his reach.

"No buts about it, we ain't mated, we ain't dating, so shut that shit down right fucking now!" Cobra snarled, rubbing his sensitive ears.

"Cobra's right, we're just friends. He's more like my brother than anything else." Kinana giggled.

"But...if you two aren't dating then who is it that you keep sneaking off to see?" Merudy asked as she picked up the lacrima to stare accusingly at Kinana.

"My boyfriend," Kinana giggled. Cobra wasn't the only one who enjoyed screwing with people's heads.

"Name, Kinana, I need his name!" Merudy whined.

"Nope, but if I win this, I might just introduce you to him," Kinana said, a plan forming in her mind. That should ensure that Merudy didn't inform Mira that she was asking Cobra for assistance.

"Count me in then. I'll do anything I can to help you out," Merudy gasped as she once again sat down next to Cobra.

"So tell us the pairings," Cobra said though he was still glaring at Merudy for her loud screeching earlier.

"Well, there's Gruvia, Jerza, Gale, StingErva, RoKino, ElfGreen, Maki, Laxana, RoWen, NaLu, Kinabra, and Bixana." Kinana read off the list of couple names. She was very aware of the ones that Cobra growled at making a note next to them about it.

"Damn ship names mean nothing to me Cu," Cobra groaned as he tried to make heads or tails about most of the couples.

"Sorry, Gruvia is Gray and Juvia," Kinana said looking at the top name on the list. "I don't think she put them in order or anything.

"Nope, NaLu is her OTP," Merudy said as she pulled out a slip of paper of her own. "So all of these have to actually have a reason behind them correct?"

"Yeah," Kinana agreed as she scooted up to her headboard so she could rest against it. "By the way, where is everyone else?"

"Sorano is off with Yukino in town at the moment. They bumped into each other while we were dealing with a dark guild and decided to go shopping. I...well I wasn't feeling so good," Merudy said flushing in embarrassment.

"She started her rag," Cobra said bluntly. "She's puking her guts out and cramping like a bitch."

"Erik!" both girls yelled as they glared at the Poison Slayer who shrugged.

"Back to our pairings," Merudy growled in a very good imitation of the slayer next to her.

"Wait, you only told me where Sorano is?" Kinana said.

"Jellal, Richard, and Swayar are in town as well, and Midnight is asleep in his tent." Merudy rattled off. "Now back to your first pair. You need to either use Gray or Juvia right?"

"Right, but I don't know which one," Kinana sighed.

"Doesn't matter cause that shit's a done deal," Cobra grunted.

"YES!" Merudy cheered as she punched the air in her excitement. "Oops, sorry."

"It's ok," Kinana giggled, though Cobra looked like he was going to kill the pink-haired woman. "So, why don't we see if we can figure out someone for Gray, if not we can move on to Juvia."

"Hm, we could do Gray and Lucy," Merudy said only to be stopped by Kinana.

"Can't be obvious pairings. I already thought of those two for a sibling/friend shipping, but everyone knows that already. Hell, he accidentally called her sis the other day." Kinana giggled as she remembered the incident at the guild.

"Then who should we pair him with if it can't be an obvious pairing?" Merudy huffed as she looked down at her list.

"What about Hammer Time?" Cobra asked as he tried to think of someone.

"Same reason as Lucy," Kinana moaned.

"Cana?" Merudy asked.

"What capacity?" Kinana asked.

"Romantic," Merudy said only to see Kinana frowning.

"No, it's pretty common knowledge that they had an on-again-off-again friend with benefits thing going for a while." Kinana sighed. "Erik? Any suggestions?"

"Sorano," Cobra said, not looking at the two females he was talking to. If Sorano ever got wind of this he was a dead man in more than one way.

"Reason?" Kinana asked excitedly. She knew Cobra wouldn't fail her.

"Fling," Merudy said with a sly little giggle.

"No, she sneaks out to see him because she's getting tips on how to be a good sibling to Yukino," Cobra groaned. "If she ever finds out I told you that, I will personally poison the shit out of you."

"Why are you only pointing at me!" Merudy squawked as he leveled a one-eyed glare at the pink-haired mage.

"Because I trust Cu," Cobra growled.

"Fair enough, she won't learn about it from me," Merudy swore as she looked back to the lacrima.

"So, bro-ship?" Kinana asked just to make sure she had this right. She would have to make up an excuse on why, but she knew the truth and that was all that really mattered.

"Bro-ship," Cobra agreed. "They also have a meeting planned for three days from today in Crocus."

"Looks like I need to do some shopping then," Kinana giggled as she jotted that down on her sheet of paper.

_o0o_

"Sorano," Kinana said with a gulp. This was going to be a bit tricky. She knew the judges already knew what she was thinking, but she had to inform the other guilds why.

"And your justification?" Kaleb asked, hiding his smirk behind his steepled hands.

"I caught them in Crocus four days ago," Kinana said as she looked over at the two in question. Both of them were a bit pale, but what she said next eased their fears a bit.

_o0o_

Kinana stepped off of the train and looked around. She was a bit earlier than expected, but she was hoping that she could spot Gray as he left the train and follow him to his meeting. The best she was hoping for was that she could accidentally run across them to justify her pairing for them. She truly hated this stupid game, but the Masters' Punishment Games were far worse and she had yet to end up doing them and she planed to keep it that way.

Settling on a bench out of the way, Kinana started to watch people. The flash of white or blue caught her eye and she would stand only to return to her seat when she found that it wasn't the individuals she was looking for. For over an hour she sat there waiting patiently, then she spotted Gray leaving the train and she sighed in relief. She knew Erik wouldn't lie to her, but if Merudy accidentally let slip that she was going to be here, they could have rescheduled.

Standing, Kinana followed Gray at a distance. She didn't want to be caught too soon or she wouldn't have a valid claim to her pairing. She had decided that she was going to make sure that none of her pairings were based on just assumptions and she needed to keep Erik out of whatever her reasonings were.

Kinana was brought out of her musing when she spotted Sorano at a small cafe that Gray had just entered. With a nod, Kinana walked past it and took the alley just down the way. She would have to play this one very carefully and not overestimate her time. She could hold her snake form for exactly one hour, but then she transformed back naked. That was embarrassing the one time it happened in the guilds gym.

Ducking behind some trash cans, Kinana quickly stripped out of her dress and called her magic. The transformation was quick and painless from her practice, but she was always a bit disoriented when she was done. The ticking of the timer she had set was loud to her sensitive ears and she picked it and her dress up to fly to the top of the cafe.

Thankfully Sorano and Gray were near the window just under the sign that would hide Kinana's form from those on the street. Her spying would be so much easier this way, but the loud clatter of the street was more than a bit distracting.

"Thank you, so Sorano, what did you want to talk about?" Gray asked as he took the coffee from the waitress.

"I was hoping you could help me with something," Sorano hummed as she took a sip of her latte. "Yukino's birthday is in a month and I wanted to do something, just us girls, but…"

"You don't know what to do," Gray finished for her and Kinana could hear the smile in his voice.

"Exactly! The natural hot spring you mentioned for our last trip was amazing, but I was hoping for something a little different this time. I wanna pamper her, but the only other girl I can talk to is Merudy and we both know she'll blow this out of proportion and then others will get involved. I just want it to be special for her. I have so much to make up for," Sorano sighed as she trailed off.

"Well, there's a festival in Rose Garden that the two of you might enjoy." Gray mused. "There's also that exhibit about the stars and their constellations that Lucy was raving about."

"She already went to the exhibit with her pet dragons," Sorano huffed. She had had a similar thought about the exhibit, but Sting and Rogue had beaten her to the punch there. "What's the festival in Rose Garden about?"

"It's their Rose festival, it's supposed to be one of the biggest festivals for them all year. They go all out. I went the other year and it was spectacular." Gray laughed.

"What does it entail?" Sorano was curious, maybe she could get Yukino to take more than just a day to spend with her.

"It's a week-long celebration and the final day they open up the Rose Conservatory for those lucky enough to get tickets. It's the only day that it's open to the public." Gray said. "If that's what you want to do, you're going to need to get tickets the day they are up for sale. You can't preorder them and they only sell them on the first day of the festival."

"The Rose Conservatory, isn't that the one that is owned by that really expensive perfume company?" Sorano asked.

"The one and only," Gray confirmed causing Sorano to light up.

"That's what I'll do then. I'll get there and get two tickets! Yukino loves their perfume and even bought me a small bottle for my birthday!" Sorano giggled before she became very serious. "Gray, I would also like to invite you to join us...make it a family outing of sorts? Only if you want to of course!"

"I would love to, but I will already be there with Juvia," Gray laughed, "but I wouldn't mind meeting up with the two of you sometime during the week. The four of us could go to the circus that performs there or maybe the opera that I'm taking Juvia to."

"Really? You'd be alright with that?" Sorano beamed taking his hand and squeezing it. "Will you be telling Juvia about us then?"

"I already did," Gray said softly, "she's going to join us later today. That's if you're ok with that?"

"I would love that," Sorano agreed softly. "Thanks Gray, you are an amazing brother."

"Yeah, well when I plan a family trip, it's gonna be a big one. I got you, Yukino, Lucy, and Wendy." Gray laughed. "Come on, we're meeting Juvia in the shopping district. I promised her a new outfit."

With that Kinana, quickly moved back up to the roof and gathered her things. She still had about twenty minutes left before she transformed back, but she didn't want to stress herself out so she retreated to the alley to redress. She was happy for her guildmate and friend, they deserved happiness.

_o0o_

"Classification on the ship?" Arman asked as people started to speculate just how long the two were sneaking around behind everyone's backs. There were also loud sympathizers for Juvia who were starting to get angry at Gray.

"Bro-ship...um, for those that don't know what that means, it's when you ship someone in a sibling-like relationship instead of a romantic way," Kinana said when Master Makarov got the spectators to settle down. The sudden release of breath from over half of the room's occupants caused quite a few snickers. Who knew listening to these two justify their ships were going to be so entertaining.