AN: Chapter 23

Ok so I lied… feels will be in the next chapter lol also, this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but that's ok. Things needed to happen in this chapter that wouldn't really fit into the next one.

Depressica: lol thank you so much ^.^

Nyma: lol yes… he is getting more muscle on him… lookin' fiiiiine and his magic is getting better! :D that is very true. Thanks are in order to Lily. And as for Chrono… let's just say he will not be coming back in the story. he just fell off the face of the planet. And as for Gray… we'll find out what is happening with him in the next chapter ;)

Finn grinned as he watched Ace dodge one of his attacks, his roommate losing his concentration due to Finn's new abilities. Ace stood up and growled as he emitted flames from his hands. "Damn it, Finn! How have you gotten so much better than me in just two months?!"

Finn grinned as he took his stance across from Ace. "Did you forget I'm the guy who has a reputation to keep up now?"

Ace grinned as he pushed off of the ground, running straight for Finn. "I know you're starting to get a bit cocky!" Ace thrust his fist forward, missing Finn by the hairs of his head. As Finn came back up, he began to create his ice magic, forming a giant ice hammer and swinging it into Aces' stomach, forcing the fire mage backwards.

Ace hunched over, coughing and trying to catching his breath. "Damn… I should have seen that one coming…"

Finn brought the hammer back and rested it on his shoulder, a grin on his face. "Losing your focus there Ace?"

Ace grinned as he stood back up slowly. "Ha… you wish. I'm just getting started…" The fire mage crossed his arms in front of his face, gathering his power. Finn watched as Ace made flames form around his entire body, his arms stretching out to either side of him. The ice mage smiled as he made the giant ice hammer disappear. "Care to test your new ice with my fire?"

"I was thinking about it…" Finn turned his body as his ice make magic began to form large ice swords circling around him. A smirk came over his lips as he looked at Aces' wide eyes. "Or I was thinking about using this new technique."

Aces' attention switched over to the newest pair of eyes on the two sparring partners. He coughed slightly and nodded his head to the door. Finn took his eyes off of Ace and looked in the direction of the door. His eyes widened slightly as he saw that same girl who played the violin on Boras' yacht. The ice mage broke his stance and made his way over to her, causing his ice swords to disappear. Ace pulled in his flames some as he held out his hands to his side.

"Dude! We're in the middle of a match!"

Finn waved a hand as he spoke. "I'll just be a minute!" The ice mage saw the girl smile as he made his way closer to her. He in return smiled back as he stopped just before the doorway. "Hey."

"Hi." She said kindly. Her hand came up and pulled some of her platinum blonde hair back behind her ear as her blue eyes looked to Finn.

"Did... you need some help?" Finn asked.

The girl shook her head slightly. "No, I just happened to be walking by when I saw you use your magic. I've never seen magic like this. It's so amazing!"

Finn rubbed the back of his head as he looked away slightly. "Oh, thanks…" A slightly blush came over his cheeks as he continued to speak. "I could say the same about you though." Finn looked at the girl who stared at him with a half-smile and a raised eye brow, not entirely sure what he was talking about. Finn brought his hands in front of his body, quickly shaking them. "No, no, sorry. I didn't mean to sound like a creeper just now. I just happened to see you play your violin at a party I went to a few months ago. You were incredible!"

The girl giggled as she nodded her head. "Ah, yes. That does sound a bit less creepy. And thank you. It means a lot to me to hear that." The young girl took a step backwards as she pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Well, I've got to get going. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah! For sure!" Finn said excitedly. Just as Finn watched her turn around and start walking away slowly, he snapped his fingers and spoke quickly. "My name is Finn! By the way…"

The girl turned, her platinum blonde hair swirling around her shoulders. "I'm Serena."

Finn smiled as he watched her turn back around. 'Serena…' He turned around himself and started heading back towards Ace whose arms were crossed over his chest, waiting for the ice mage to return to their training.

"Dude… are you crazy?"

Finn looked up to his roommate. "What?"

Ace stepped closer and pointed out the door. "That's Lahars daughter!"

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "I knew that…"

"So… wait… you already knew, but you still went and talked to her?!"

Finn smiled slightly and shook his head. "Is it a crime?"

"Well... no… but I wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole. I mean, I would. If she wasn't the head masters daughter. I would have asked her out a long time ago." Ace put his hands behind his head as he looked away from the ice mage. "Anyway… do you just want to call it a day or continue where we left off?"

Finn held up a finger. "Hold that thought. I'll be right back." Before Ace could say anything else, Finn had run out of the room quickly, chasing after Serena. He quickly turned around the corner and saw her dragging her feet, as if she was almost hoping he would come back to her. He smiled as he ran up beside her. "Hey! Serena."

Serena smiled as she stopped walking. "Hello again."

Finn rubbed the back of his head, a slight blush coming over his cheeks. "Say… I was wondering… would you like to go out sometime? I know this is totally sudden and I never usually do this… I mean… I guess I've never done this before…" Finn looked into her blue eyes and smiled. "Sorry… I know I'm being awkward right now."

Serena laughed lightly as she nodded. "I would love to go out with you sometime Finn."

Finn's eyes widened. "What?! Really?! You do?!"

The blonde girl took a piece of paper and scribbled her phone number down on it, handing it to the ice mage. "Give me a text sometime."

Finn grinned as he took the paper from her. "Yeah… for sure."

"Now if you'll excuse me Finn, I have to get these books and papers to my father. I'm looking forward to our date."

Finn let out a sigh as he watched her leave once more, his heart skipping a beat. He could feel Aces' arm fall on one of his shoulders. "So you do realize you haven't had a shirt on this whole time?"

Finn looked down slowly, his face reddening as he slapped his forehead. "God damn it! Why of all times did I have a shirt off?!"

"Honestly, I'm surprised she even talked to you. I see her around here all the time, but she usually just sticks to her group of girlfriends. She very rarely talks to any of us guys who attend the academy."

"Yeah well… maybe being the only ice mage here has an advantage." Finn said with a grin. "After all, she did agree to go out with me and she gave me her number."

Ace shrugged his shoulders as he held a hand up at his side. "And I guess not having a shirt on helps too." He snickered as he turned around, avoiding a punch from Finn. "Maybe next time I ask a girl out, I'll make sure to have my shirt off too! Show off all these muscles I've gotten since I've started training here!"

"Shut up! This isn't something to laugh about!" Finn said as he chased after his roommate.

"You're right, this is something that should be taught to all the guys here at the academy! Good thinking Finn!"

"That's not what I said!" The ice mage called out as he smirked.

Lily smiled as she looked down at her license, excited she had finally gotten one. The dark haired girl opened the door to her house, running inside to find her mother who was sitting in the living room. Lily ran over to the couch and jumped onto the seat next to Levy, scaring the script mage, and causing her to look up from the book she was intently reading at the time. "Mom! Mom! Look! I finally did it! I got my license!"

Levy smiled at her oldest daughter, proud she was able to achieve what she had set out to get a while back. "That's great Lily. I'm very happy for you. Have you put in any thoughts for getting a car yet?"

Lily slumped back down into her seat, letting out a soft sigh as she blew some of her hair out of her face. "Yeah… I was thinking about saving up money I get from the book shop and the bar."

Levy closed her book slightly, keeping the page she left off on bookmarked with her finger. "You do know cars can be expensive. You should look into getting a beater car for right now. Just something to get you from A to B. Then when you save up some money, you can buy yourself something better." Levy suggested with a smile.

Lily looked at her mother with a soft smile. "Yeah… I guess I can do that."

Gajeel entered the room, a scowl over his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Caz lemme tell ya, your mom isn't always going to let you use her car. And it's about time you got your license. Now if you could keep your grades up, the ones that you so claim to have, maybe then I'll consider paying for your grad school."

Lily rolled her eyes as she stood, her voice low as she walked past her father. "Whatever…"

Levy turned on the couch, shaking her head as she eyed Gajeel. "Seriously, Gajeel?"

The iron dragon slayer dropped his arms at his side as he shrugged his shoulders. "What?!"

Levy turned back around as she opened her book. "Why do you have to do that? Be proud she finally got her license."

Gajeel growled as he pointed a finger back behind him towards the stairs. "What? Be proud of a twenty-two year old for getting her license finally?! I don't think so! I would be proud of her if she even graduates college! Hell knows if that's ever gonna happen!"

Lily stood behind her bedroom door, listening to her father ramble on. She clenched a fist as she looked down at her feet. Pantherlily watched the girl from her desk, pity over his face. "Don't take him to heart Lily. I'm sure he is proud of you for getting your license."

Lily walked over to her bed and sat down roughly. "He just doesn't trust me anymore. That's why he won't believe me when I say I'm doing one thing and actually doing it this time. Whatever…" The young girl fell back onto her bed, her wild hair going in every direction. "When I graduate, I can just rub it in his face that I was actually doing it. And when I buy a car, I'll tell him, ha! Told ya I was workin…."

Pantherlily flew over to her. "Maybe put it in a little nicer tone. You don't want to completely upset him. You're trying to be nicer to him, remember?"

Lily stuck out her bottom lip and turned her head. "Yes… I know… but he makes it so hard! He's always giving me smart remarks or comments! It's so annoying! And it's hard not to snap back at him like I used to…"

Pantherlily let out a sigh as he thought to himself. 'She still doesn't see how much she really is like her father.'

Lily let out a moan as she sat back up, pushing her hair back into a ponytail. "Well… this homework isn't going to do itself."

Pantherlily watched as the young girl went to her desk, sitting down with a sigh as she quickly went to work, a smile over his face. He made his way back over to the girls' desk, curling up into a ball beside her arm. Lily smiled at the exceed as she ran her hand over his head and down his back, glad to have him by her side.

Rain opened her front door quietly, closing it slowly as she reached down to take off one of her shoes. "Mom… I'm home." After the ice mage got both of her shoes off, she walked further into the house. "Mom?"

"She's at work, Rain."

The blue haired girl jumped with the sudden creepy voice coming from the room next to her. She turned her head and looked to Bora who was sitting in a chair, his legs crossed and one of his hands turning his rings that decorated his fingers. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, her hand gripping her backpack. "What are you doing?"

Bora smirked as he stared at Rain, replying to her slowly. "What do you mean, Rain? I'm just sitting here. Waiting for your mother to return home."

"Why is she at work? She didn't have a car because I had it for school…"

"I let her use my car. She got called in. Don't worry. She should be back soon."

Rain could feel her heart beating in her chest the whole time he was staring at her, the uneasy feeling coming over the girl. She looked away from Bora and ran to her room, closing her door behind her quickly. The young ice mage put her bag down on the floor as she shut her eyes, trying to breathe. Her head went back on her door as she thought. 'Calm down… just calm down… it's going to be ok… you have to be strong. Don't let that creep scare you like this… I know he's up to something… I just need to get proof….'

Rain jumped at the sudden sound of her phone going off in her bag. She shut her eyes tightly as a hand came up to her beating chest, cursing herself for being so scared. She knelt down and searched her bag for her phone, relief washing over her as she saw that it was Finn calling her. As she stood, she answered the call, putting the phone to her ear as she ran her free hand through her hair. "Hello?"

"Hey Rain, you ok? You sound a bit shaken up."

Rain sat down on her bed, shaking her head. "Yeah… I'm fine."

"You're absolutely sure you're ok? I can call back another time if—"

"No! Please, Finn… can you… can you stay on the line with me for a while?"

Finn waited a second to respond, trying to figure out what was going on at Rains' end. "Yeah…"

"So… what's up?"

"Huh?" Finn asked confusingly.

"You called me, remember?"

"Oh! Yeah! I wanted to call and tell you that I have a date. With a girl. That I… just met… sorta…"

Rain raised a brow. "You have a date?"

"Yes, a date."

"So you finally moving on from Lily?"

"This has nothing to do with her! Man… you have to be talking to Leo… that's totally something he would say to me right now…"

Rain looked down. "Sorry… so wait… you just met his girl? And what do you mean by sorta?"

"Well… you remember that party Bora had on his yacht? And how he had that one performer who played the violin?"

"Yes… I remember…"

"That's who I'm dating. Well, going to date. Her name is Serena and god, Rain. She's so pretty. I can't wait to get to know more about her. I was surprised she even agreed to go out with me. I wasn't wearing my shirt when I asked her out… all thanks to dads stripping habit that I've somehow picked up now that I've gotten better with my magic."

"Have you told Leo yet?"

"Eh… no… he probably wouldn't believe me. I mean, anytime a girl came up to ask me out, I always turned them down. But I was the one who did the asking, and it was so easy! I mean, kinda awkward caz I was rambling, but she still said yes! Man, I'm so excited."

Rain half smiled as she leaned back on her bed. "I'm happy for you Finn. Moving on, getting better with your magic… I just wish I was there with you right now…."

"I know. But I could come by on the weekends or something. Maybe we could meet up somewhere since I'm not that far away now. That is if I'm not on a date or practicing with Ace."

Silence came from Rains' end as she listened to her brother list reasons why he wouldn't be able to meet with her. Finn paused slightly, trying to think of something to change the subject quickly. "So, has dad called you at all?

"No… I haven't heard from him. Have you?"

"Not a whole lot… last I spoke to him, he seemed to be doing a bit better. I had hoped he called you by now."

"Should I call him?"

"No. No… he has to be the one to call you. That'll tell me he's doing better and that you can go see him finally. If you end up calling him, he would probably think he's ready to see you when he really isn't. I want him to call you because that'll mean he's ready."

Rain nodded her head slowly. "Ok…"

"You sure you're ok, Rain?"

Rain sat up and looked to her bedroom door, her mothers' voice filling the house as she made her way upstairs to her own room to change. The ice mage let out a sigh of relief, glad her mother had returned home finally. "Yes. I'm fine. Don't you have to go call Leo and tell him all of this?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Alright, well, hopefully dad will call you soon. I'll talk to you later Rain!"

"Bye Finn."

Rain waited for the phone to beep, letting her know that Finn had ended the call before letting her hand fall down to her side. Rain laid back down and closed her eyes lightly. 'I wish dad would call me right now… I'd leave this house in a heartbeat if he told me he was better…. Dad…' The blue haired girl opened her eyes as she rolled her body over, her blue eyes staring out the window as the water droplets hit the glass lightly. 'Please call me soon….'

Leo shot himself forward from his chair, his eyes wide in disbelief. "YOU WHAT?!"

Finn laughed lightly on the other end. "I have a date. I know it's hard for you to believe that, coming from me."

Leo sat back down slowly, running a hand behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. "So you're finally letting go of dragon lady, huh? Wait…" The blonde haired boy said quickly. "You're not getting over me and replacing me with Ace?! Right?!"

"Leo, for the last time! I'm not replacing you, nor will I ever. Calm down… and seriously what is it with you and my sister? Have you two been talking? It's not about Lily or anyone else… I just think she's pretty and an amazing person… as of right now… I mean I've only seen her play the violin and I don't know much else about her besides the fact that's she's Lahars daughter."

"Ok, couple of things, no, I have not talked to Rain since she's called me. Yes, I thought about calling her multiple times. Two, for so long you were holding out for that dragon! That's why I asked! And three… who's Lahar?"

"Well… Lahar is the head master of the academy."

Leo smirked as he rubbed his chin with his fingers. "Ooooh… going after the head masters daughter, eh? Expecting a bit more out of her other than just dating status? You hope she can get you in good with her dad so you can pass all of your classes? I see what you're doing… very smart Finn. Good job!" Leo said as he held up a thumb in approval.

Finn growl slightly. "That's not why I'm going out with her Leo! Besides, you know I don't need any help from anyone else when it comes to school. I just… I wanted change and I figured it wouldn't hurt to go out with a girl who has some talent like me. I mean, musical talent. She doesn't practice magic."

Leo raised a brow. "And how do you know that for sure? What if she's like some crazy ass girl who has some crazy magic that she only performs when alone with a guy?! Hm?!"

"I highly doubt that Leo... she doesn't even attend the academy."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Leo moved his hand in front of his body. "Oh, ok… so you're just going out with her caz she looks good and she has some talent."

"Yes—I mean, no! God… why do you have to make it sound so bad like that?!"

Leo let out a laugh as he spoke. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry man. I'm just trying to give you a hard time. I am happy for you, really."

"Thanks Leo. I'm really hoping this works out… she seems pretty cool."

"Not as cool as me, I'm sure."

"No one can be as cool as you." Finn said as he rolled his eyes with a smile, damning himself for boosting Leo's ego.

Leo grinned as he pulled down his blue-tinted sunglasses. "Glad you have finally admitted that. Alright, I'll let ya go. Go have fun on your date! And call me afterwards to let me know how it went!"

"Ok, I'll try to remember to call you. You seem to forget that I have work to do."

"And you seem to forget that I am your best friend and I need to know every detail about your life at all times."

Finn laughed as he shook his head. "Talk to ya later Leo."

AN: Please review and keep an eye out for the next chapter! Should be posted up soon! :D