Gray and Natsu arrived at the infirmary, trying to spot the man that Gray had been fighting earlier, but the only ones there were two girls. This wasn´t anything the two boys thought about for a long time, which was a bit strange since the infirmary was there only for the tournament and the tournament was for the men in the kingdom.

But no one had ever claimed those two to be the sharpest knives in the box.

"Excuse me", a familiar voice said and Lucy looked up from Juvia´s peaceful face. In the infirmary were two young men standing, one with pink hair and one with black. Both were very handsome, but the pink haired one caught Lucy´s attention just a tad bit more.

"Yes?"

"We´re looking for my opponent, he fainted during our match and I want to make sure he´s okay", the dark-haired one said, the one who hadn´t spoken before.

"I think my sister and I are the only ones here except you two", Lucy said, and by talking she made sure the men didn´t hear her sister whisper 'Gray-sama' in her sleep.

"Oh, okay. Thanks for the help anyways", the dark haired man was about to turn away to leave but then stopped. "Wait, why are you wearing armor?"

"Hey, you´re the one I fought earlier!"

Lucy jumped at the sudden voice behind her. Pink Hair had snuck up behind her when she was focusing on the dark-haired one.

"Fought? That´s ridiculous, a girl like me, fighting?" Lucy tried to flick his comment away. "And even if I had been able to fight, why would I participate in the tournament? It's for deciding the next king, I would gain nothing from winning."

"I recognize your smell."

"Stop being such a pervert!" Lucy shrieked.

"Definitely the same person", Pink Hair said and looked at his friend.

"So is this my opponent? The Julien-guy?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Obviously this is no guy but my sister, Juvia."

"She´s also wearing armor", the dark-haired male said as he walked up closer.

Lucy was about to say something when Juvia stirred and opened her eyes.

"Lucy?"

"Finally awake?" Lucy smiled down at her.

"What happened?"

"You tell me, you´re the one who fainted."

"So this is my opponent!" the dark-haired cut in before Juvia got to say something.

Juvia looked to the side and it seemed like she was going to faint again.

"Are you alright, miss?" the dark-haired man asked with his brows furrowed.

"She´s fine so you can leave now", Lucy said in a calm voice, the one she most often used around in the castle when she asked the servants for something. It wasn´t that Lucy didn´t like the dark-haired man – she did not know him after all, but he had made Juvia faint earlier and besides that Lucy didn't like that he acted so friendly all of a sudden. She was a bit protective when it came to family. They mattered the most to her.

"I'd still love to get something of an explanation as to what happened", the dark-haired man answered and sat down on the opposing bed. Lucy tried her best to give him a subtle glare – she tried to make him uncomfortable and leave. He didn't however, but he did turn to her. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'm Gray Dragbuster, and that's my brother, Natsu."

Lucy turned her head to look at Natsu, apparently the one she had fought. Earlier she had thought of his walk as worry-less, but everything about him sent out this vibe of carelessness; he seemed to be extremely unconcerned.

"I'm Lucy, and this is my sister Juvia. We joined in the tournament on the orders of our", Lucy wondered whether she should refer to her sister, which was the truth, or her brother, but then she figured the truth would be revealed after this match after all, "older sister."

"So there's another girl who has participated?" Gray asked and Lucy nodded.

"Are all of you interested in becoming the king?" Natsu asked and Lucy couldn't help but to laugh.

"They can't be king as they are women, moron!"

"Well why did they participate if not to rule the kingdom, idiot!"

Gray snorted and tried to come up with an answer, but closed his mouth and turned to the sisters. "That's a good question. Why did you join?"

"Because our sister told us too", Lucy repeated.

"Erza-nee thought it would be nice practice", Juvia helpfully filled in.

"Why would you need to practice?" Natsu asked confused.

"Because we just started learning how to fight", Lucy answered.

"And why did you begin learning that?" Gray asked.

"Because mama wanted Erza-nee to teach Lucy and Juvia."

The brothers looked at each other and then shrugged. They seemed to decide that there was no point to further questions. But they didn't leave. Gray wondered once again if Juvia could explain what happened earlier, but all Juvia could do was blush and shake her head. To Lucy´s surprise, Natsu then asked her about their match and why she had swung low.

"I expected you to step back, most wouldn't jump."

"Why wouldn't they?" Natsu seemed seriously surprised.

"Because that makes you an easier target; you have less force in the air and you'll be unbalanced when you land", Juvia answered. Both men looked at her.

"Really?" Natsu asked at the same time as Gray asked "Who told you that?"

"Our older sister", Lucy answered. She felt as if it was better not to tell Erza´s name to them – a woman who fought with swords? Most people in the kingdom would immediately put two and two together and figure out who they were. And Lucy enjoyed the feeling of being normal.

"Is she any good then?" Gray asked. "That tip does seem to be true after all."

"She's the best", Lucy smiled and Juvia nodded excitedly. "That's why she's in the final."

"She's in the final?" Natsu asked with wide eyes. "That's got to be one scary woman!"

The sisters laughed. "I suppose you could say that. But she is super sweet", Lucy smiled.

"Will she win?" Gray asked curiously.

"Of course!" Lucy exclaimed. "There's no way she'll lose."

The group of four continued talking about the tournament and later about more trivial things as well. Lucy discovered that she really enjoyed the time they spent together. Which was longer than she had thought as they suddenly heard the final was about to start. Natsu and Gray wanted to watch it from the stands, but Lucy said she and Juvia had to stay in there – Juvia wasn't well enough to leave. That was a lie, but the two of them could not go out and stand among the public. Besides, their grandfather waited for them.

"We'll see you some other time", Natsu smiled brightly and Lucy felt her chest tighten a bit. If she had been a normal girl they probably could, but since she wasn't she wondered whether she could see him and Gray again.

- Even if I could it wouldn't be the same. Next time, I'll be Princess Lucy and not just Lucy.

"Yeah, nice meeting you", Juvia smiled and the boys smiled at them before leaving. Both girls smiled back but as soon as the brothers had left the infirmary, Lucy's smiled faltered. She glanced at her sister and saw that Juvia had stopped smiling too.

"Let's go, Gramps is waiting", Lucy smiled kindly and rose from the bed. Juvia joined her seconds later and together they headed to the king's side to watch their sister fight.

Erza breathed out one last time before putting her helmet on. If she lost, this would be her future husband. That's what she promised her grandfather.

- If I win and host a ball, Jellal might make it.

She knew it was ridiculous. Why would he show up at a ball and not the tournament? But maybe he couldn't make it. Maybe he was away. And he would be back in time to go to the ball.

- Where would he go? And with whom? He has no family, not anymore. If he did, we would have known where to find him.

She shook her head to rid the negative thoughts. It didn't matter; there was a small chance he could show up to a ball and she was going to take it. Or at least give it her everything to take the chance. With new-found resolution she entered the grounds and walked to the center of the court. Both Freed and Laxus stood in the middle. She didn't find to referees necessary since the rules were quite simple and obvious – she had come up with them after all. But perhaps they felt that it was important and if that was the case, she'd let them do as they liked.

Her opponent arrived at the same time as she did. She measured him up, trying to figure out as much as she could without fighting. He was of average length and not very broad-shouldered (not when compared to men such as Jura Nekis and Elfman Strauss). None of his features were visible beneath the armor, like in her own case, but something about his posture and walk sent out a vibe of seriousness.

But nothing that would help her beat him.