Chapter 3

Opposites Attract

In about half an hour later, Ash was running through the East Forest at a steady pace. He could tell he was getting close to where he wanted to be because of the increasing sound of someone punching a tree, grunting, and ranting.

The voice of the upset person obviously belonged to a girl. And it was certainly a voice that Ash knew all too well.

It wasn't long until he came to a clearing and saw Alu punching the base of a tree. He looked closer at the tree trunk and noticed that there were two pieces of paper pinned to it with terribly drawn images of two people.

One of them appeared to be Erza. And the second one looked like Ur, Ash's twin sister.

Ash sighed and shook his head when he saw that. He hung back for a moment as he watched Alu beat up the pictures, ranting between punches as she did.

"STUPID ERZA!" Alu's voice was a violent as a volcano. "TELLING ME…I CAN'T WORK FOR TWO STINKEN' WEEKS! AND STUPID UR! UGH! YOU'LL PAY…FOR RATTING ME OUT!"

Finally, Alu landed a solid punch on the image of Erza's face and stopped. She dropped the tension in her shoulders and shut her eyes. She twisted her face in pain and hung her head. The pain she was feeling wasn't anything physical. Even the soreness in her fists didn't bother her.

Sensing that this would be a good time to make himself known, Ash stepped out of the trees and walked forward.

"Have you blown off steam yet?" he asked.

Upon hearing his voice, Alu's eyes snapped open and she whipped around to see Ash standing just a few yards behind her.

Ash was a little taller than Alu herself. He had a lean build with some noticeable muscles that were beginning to show, particularly on his arms and torso.

Like his father, Ash had coal-black hair. However, there was a single streak of blue in left side of his bangs, which he most likely inherited from his mother, Juvia. He also had dark grey eyes, and light-colored skin.

He was currently dressed in a light blue T-shirt with dark shorts and black sneakers.

When Alu saw him, she gave a startled expression and her cheeks turned an almost unnoticeably shade of pink.

"Ash!" she yelped. "Oh, hi!"

"Sorry," Ash said, smiling awkwardly and scratching the back of his head, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh, no, you didn't startle me." Alu said quickly, gathering her senses. "I, uh, I just didn't know you there. So…what are you doing here?"

"Well," Ash said slowly, searching for the right word to use, "I saw you run out of the guildhall and you looked upset. I guess…I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Alu frowned, "Am I allowed to guess you heard about what happened today?"

"Yeah, your parents and Erza did mention it." Ash admitted.

Alu's face turned from disappointment to irritation.

"Geez!" she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "Those three are really getting on my last nerve! And two of them, I live with! They just find every excuse to ground me! I'm sure if I spilled just a bottle of the guild's booze they would put me on a two MONTH restriction!"

"Well, you did take that solo job without permission again, didn't you?" Ash pointed out tentatively. "That was kind of asking for it."

"Don't you start on me, too, Ash!" Alu snapped, shooting a scowl at the boy. "I get enough of that from my parents! I don't need it from you, too!"

"Just calm down, Alu," the boy said mildly, raising his hands in a calming gesture. "I understand your upset, but beating up a tree that can't even fight back isn't going to help things. Why don't you tell me what's troubling you? I just want to help you."

The scowl of Alu's face lessened at those words. She then glanced down at the ground for a moment, holding her breath and flexing her fists a couple of times as she thought over what Ash said.

Finally, she let out her breath and turned her gaze back to her friend.

"I'm just frustrated and angry," she confessed, the honesty in her voice was noticeable, and also sharp in tone. "Is that so wrong?"

"No," Ash shook his head, "at least I don't think it is. Everyone gets like that. But you do seem to be angrier than usual. Honestly, I've never seen you this way before. Is there any reason why?"

Alu didn't answer. She looked away and bit her lips.

Ash sensed her hesitation and walked up to her. He then reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. She felt his gesture and flinched. She then looked up at him with a small look of surprise.

"Hey, let's go for a walk." Ash suggested. "Maybe that will help clear things up for ya. What do you say?"

"Uh, sure." Alu nodded, her cheeks turning pink again. This time it was a little more noticeable, but Ash didn't seem to pay attention to that. Or if he noticed, he didn't say anything about it.

The two friends began to walk around the East Forest in an aimless manner. It didn't matter where they went, just as long they stayed within the forest. It was nice to stroll through the woods and listen to all the sounds of nature; from the rustling of the wind in the leafs, to the trickling of the water in the lakes and rivers, to the chirps of small animals up in the trees or scuttling across the earth.

For a while, Alu just looked down at her feet with a sullen expression. She knew that Ash was trying to help her, but she still felt uncomfortable talking about what was on her mind at the moment. And while Ash was her best friend, she wasn't even sure how he would be able to help her with the situation she was in.

As she thought over this, she glanced over at Ash. She watched as he used Ice Maker Magic to create a small crystal-clear Fairy Tail emblem. Alu smiled a little in admiration when she saw that. As much as she loved her own magic, she had to admit that Ash's magic was pretty amazing, too.

Not to mention, Ash was an amazing Ice Wizard. He just seemed to have this innate skill to learn Ice Magic just by watching his father do it. Ash only had to see a technique once, and he could learn how to use it effectively in just a matter of days. He was the very definition of a fast learner.

There were times where Alu was envious of his skill and power. He just seemed to get better and better every day, something she couldn't seem to do with her own Magic.

Ash noticed her watching him out of the corner of his eye, and decided to start the conversation again.

"So, listen," he said, fiddling around with the ice emblem he created, "I don't want you to feel like you have to talk to me, but I know that it's not a healthy thing to keep all your emotions bottled up. And if you have something you want to get off your chest, well…I just want you to know I'm here for you."

"I know, Ash." Alu replied in a low voice. "And I appreciate it."

There was a moment of silence.

Finally, Alu gave a sad expression.

"Ash," she said softly, "do you think I'm Fairy Tail's weakest link?"

"No, of course not." Ash replied, looking over at Alu. "Why? Did someone call you that?"

Alu slowly nodded.

"It was the rogue wizard I confronted today," she grumbled. "He called me "Fairy Tail's Weak Link"."

"Heh, that's not what the official guilds call you." Ash shrugged. "They call you "Fairy Tail's Little Terror"."

Alu just looked at Ash with an annoyed expression.

"Very funny," she grunted.

"Hey, it's their words, not mine." Ash replied, making his little ice emblem disappear. "Although I can't really say that they're wrong. I heard you made quite a fiasco at Blue Pegasus last month during the exchange program."

Alu stopped dead in her tracks, making Ash stop as well. He looked back at her and saw her face twist into an irritated scowl.

"Hey, they were the ones who started it!" Alu snapped. "They tried to make me into some kind of object to be lusted over!"

"Yeah, I can see that." Ash replied, not sounding too worried about Alu's temper. "But I heard you smuggled a suit out of the men's dressing room. Did you really do that?"

"You know I hate dresses!" Alu stated firmly. "And the one they gave me was ugly as sin! The neckline went down past my bellybutton! Seriously, the person who made that should've been shot!"

"I'll take that as a "yes"," Ash grinned nervously, "I bet you gave the Trimen a real shock when you came out in a suit. I can just imagine the look on their faces."

Alu simply grunted with distain.

"And I heard about the ice box scare." Ash continued, starting to snicker. "Honestly, I wish I had been there. From what Dad told me, you really gave Ichyia a scare."

"I was defending Erza's honor." Alu grumbled. "The little troll had it comin'. But only Dad and Happy thought it was funny. They were on the floor with me laughing."

Ash laughed a little at the story. His chuckle made Alu give a small grin.

"Well, all I can say is that those guys should've known better than to mess with you." Ash smiled. "You sure put them in their place. After all, true beauty can't be put in a box."

When Ash said that, Alu looked at him with wide-eyes. A strong blush came over her cheeks.

"Are…you saying I'm beautiful?" Alu asked slowly.

Ash's smile disappeared and was quickly replaced with a mortified expression. His face turned exceedingly red, and his ears burned with embarrassment. He hastily turned away from Alu and lowered his head, making his bangs hide his eyes.

"Uh…well…" he stammered, fiddling with his fingers, "I mean, yeah. You're beautiful…in your own way. I mean…you're probably the most courageous person I've ever met and…well…that's a great quality to have."

Alu glanced away and rubbed her left arm.

"Well, thanks Ash," she said softly. "That's…really nice of you."

For a moment or two, there was an awkward silence between the boy and girl. They just glanced back and forth between each other and a random place in the forest, trying to think of what to say in this situation. More specifically, they were thinking of how they could move away from the subject.

Finally, Ash cleared his throat and regained his composure.

"Anyway," he said quickly, "how did we get on this topic?"

Alu frowned.

"We were talking about that rogue wizard calling me Fairy Tail's Weak Link," she reminded, miserably.

"Oh, yeah." Ash replied, scratching the back of his head. "Um, don't mean to dwell on it, but did he say anything else to you?"

Alu closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Yeah," she said glumly, "he also said that my mom and dad were so unfortunate to have me as their child."

"Okay, that guy's a liar." Ash said firmly. "Have your parents ever shown seeing you as a misfortune? Far as I can tell, they care about you a lot."

"Hmph," Alu grimaced, "yeah, they follow me around twenty-four seven and lecture me every time I take a solo mission with out approval. And did you know that my mom specifically asked both Gramps and Laxus to not let me go on any solo missions?"

"Uh," Ash blinked in surprise, "no, I didn't."

"Well, she did." Alu continued, her ire rising. "And what's worse is that Dad agreed with her. It's like they don't trust me enough. If they want me to become as strong as them, why do they always have to treat me like I'm still a child? I'm fourteen years old, going on fifteen. I should be allowed to go on solo jobs like you and the others. But my parents happen to be overprotective and think that I can't take care of myself just because I'm only half-strong in both Celestial Magic and Dragon Slayer Magic."

Alu's voice rose a little bit, and she sounded like she was having a difficult time getting her words out.

"I mean I'm a freakin' Dragon Slayer's kid for goodness sake! You'd think I'd be the most powerful mage in the guild! But I'm just…just…!"

Alu exhaled sharply and shut her eyes, unable to finish that statement. When she spoke again, she was very quiet and downhearted.

"Sometimes I feel like…just running away."

Ash looked at Alu for a moment with a sympathetic expression. He was sensing her frustration, and based on what he had heard from her, he was beginning the see the true source of it.

"Alu, I'm sorry you feel that way," he said calmly. "And I'm sorry that there's not much I can do to help with that, but I am curious as to why you always take solo missions. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I noticed you mentioned something about your parents wanting you to be as strong as them. Did they ever say they wanted you to be just as strong as them? Have you ever considered the thought that they just want you to be you? And are you sure that just completing a solo mission will be enough to get them to trust you? Or anyone else in the guild for that matter? Because, no offense, but that sounds very…oh, what's the word…simple? I think it takes more than just completing a mission by yourself to gain trust and respect."

Alu didn't answer. She just glanced away.

That reaction was enough to tell Ash that he was on to something. Alu only did that whenever someone said something that was true, but she didn't want to admit it. Whatever Alu's reasons were for being rebellious, Ash was now sure that it had something to do with her wanting to gain her parent's trust, and possibly the respect of the Fairy Tail guild.

Of course, that also all depended on the girl's definitions of "trust" and "respect". Because based on what Ash had observed of her many times in the past, she and him seemed to have very different interpretations of those words and concepts.

"You know that Erza put me on a two-week restriction, right?" Alu spoke up, deliberately changing the subject. "I can't go on any missions for a while, solo or otherwise. Looks like you'll have to team up with someone else for a while."

Ash just smiled.

"That's okay," he said. "I needed a break from jobs anyway."

Alu looked up at him with surprise. What was he saying that for?

"Besides, going on missions without you wouldn't be the same." Ash continued. "We're Team Frozen Flames, aren't we? We need to stick together. And if you're on restriction, then I guess I could help you with your training. After all, it's better to hone your fighting skills if you have a partner to practice with. And we are close to perfecting that combo attack."

"You mean you want to take two weeks off to help me train?" Alu asked. "Are you sure about that? What about your sister?"

"Oh, she'll be fine." Ash shrugged. "I know Ur. She might be a little miffed about me helping you, considering that you two are constantly at each other's throats, but she'll get over it eventually."

It was then that Alu clenched her fists and scowled.

"Speaking of which," she snarled, "I still need to pay her back for blabbing on me."

"Alu," Ash said flatly, "for your information, Ur was out on a job with our mom since yesterday. And she's still not back yet. I doubt she was the one who told your dad about your whereabouts."

"Are you serious?!" Alu shrieked.

"Yeah." Ash nodded.

Alu tensed and mumbled some random sounds under her breath. She always did this whenever she was proven wrong about something she was sure was correct. Ash couldn't help but chuckle.

"So what do you say?" the boy asked. "You wanna turn your restriction into a two-week training session?"

Alu's mood quickly changed and she looked back at Ash with a confident grin.

"Sure," she replied. "Sounds fun. How about we start right now?"

"I was just waiting on you." Ash said, grabbing the bottom of his shirt.

"Oh, I see you're getting serious!" Alu playfully sneered.

"That's right, the shirt's comin' off!" Ash declared, throwing his shirt off and tossing it aside, revealing the dark blue Fairy Tail insignia on the right side of his chest. "It might be a spar, but I'm not holding back!"

"Good, 'cuz I'm not either!" Alu leapt back and took a fighting stance. "Now let's see what you got this time, Ice Wizard!"

"Bring it on, Dragon Slayer!"

With that, the two young wizards began to fight each other. Along with some kicks, punches, and acrobatic moves, they also threw a bit of their Magic around as well. Since this was a friendly match, they dialed down the force of their power just enough so that they wouldn't hurt each other too seriously. After all, this was mostly just for fun, and they both knew it.

Not to mention, this was a great way for Alu to get her mind off things. If there was anyone who could make her feel better, and could go toe-to-toe with her in a fight, it was Ash.