A/N I'm late. I know, I know. This was actually suppose to have been posted over two weeks ago, but something popped up and I couldn't (REALLY REALLY SORRY about that cherryblossom321). Anyways, the problem has been resolved and my updates should be quicker.

Other news- Shout out to Crystal bravo for also PMing me and reminding me about my lack of updates.

Disclaimer- Fairy Tail is property of Hiro Mashima.

"Woah, woah. Back up a bit. How many teams did you say there were?"

Levy glanced up from her book she had borrowed from the library that morning, The Quick and Easy Guide to Learning and Understanding Football, and held up three fingers, "Three in all. One is for Defense, one for Offence, and one for Specials." she answered, ticking each finger down as she went.

Lucy sighed and took another sip of punch from her plastic cup as she began trying to digest the new information. She had asked Levy to teach her football that morning, she was beginning to regret her choice. They had been going at it for more than fifteen minutes, but every time they moved onto another subject in the game, Lucy forgot what she had already learned. Not to mention the only time they could actually study was after school during the impromptu party Mirajane had suddenly decided to throw that morning. She had even gotten a hold of the leftover banners and streamers from the Car Wash and had strung them up around the classroom to decorate.

"And who are the Specials again?" Lucy asked.

"The people who do the kicking plays." replied Levy slowly and clearly, "Like the punters, kickers, and holders."

"So, they are only on the field for that play and switch off again?"

"Basically. Our school is so big we have three teams instead of two."

"Great," Lucy mumbled darkly. Just one more thing for her to learn.

"It's not to bad." replied Levy, taking a huge bite out of her brownie. She chewed for a moment before swallowing and continuing, "I'm only teaching you the basics since learning all the plays isn't as important. You only want to be able to follow the game tomorrow, right?"

Lucy nodded and Levy grinned, "Great! Then as long as you can figure out the basics you will be solid for tomorrow. Now, come on! Let's join the party." Levy said excitedly as she slammed her book close and dropped it into her bag before zipping it up. She grabbed Lucy's now drained cup and tossed it in the trash behind them and dragged her to her feet.

"Hold on there a second!" Lucy protested as Levy began tugging her over to where Erza, Mirjane stood by the wall. "I still don't know what a 'down' is."

"You're fine." Levy stressed, "If you worry anymore about this I swear your hair is going to fall out."

Lucy frowned and glanced at Lissanna who was busy relaying a story to Erza. As Lucy watched, she saw her swing her arms in the air as she told about a particularly exciting scene. At this, Lucy felt a pang of sadness. She was missing out on a party with her friends. Not to mention she was dragging Levy down with her.

After all, It was just football. It wasn't like she really needed to know everything. Heck, she doubted half the people in the stands knew what was going on. They just liked to have a reason to argue with each other and consume large amounts of soda and greasy foods only sold during their sporting events.

"You're right." Lucy agreed, causing Levy to grin wider just as the reached the circle. Upon their arrival, Lissanna looked up and brightened when she saw them.

"You guys missed it. I just finished telling Erza about how Mira and I ran into a group of people this morning who looked exactly like us!" Lissanna said, shaking her head as if she still couldn't believe it herself. "It was like looking in a mirror; same hair, same face. If I didn't know any better I could have bet we had the same DNA!"

"No way," said Lucy, not sure whether to believe her or not.

"It's true. We even had similar names too." Mira added, "They told us they had come to Magnolia for a short visit, and were leaving today on a flight back. It must have been a small area since neither Lissanna or I could think of where it was on a map."

Levy shook her head in a similar fashion Lissanna had, "That's insane. I wish I could have met them too."

"We haven't even told you the best part yet. You know how we said we looked exactly like them in appearance?" asked Lisanna.

They nodded and she grinned excitedly, "Well, get this: our personalities were flipped!"

"Flipped?" Lucy echoed, confused.

"She means they were the opposite." explained Erza, "Like the Lucy in their group apparently found it quite enjoyable to spend her free time torturing their Natsu with wrestling techniques."

Lucy felt her eyes widen, "No kidding. I don't even know any kind of those torture moves much less know how to do them."

"What are you talking about?" Levy interrupted, "You toucure Natsu all the time. Have you seen him when you tutor him? The poor guy." said Levy.

"Hey!"

"Joking, joking." Levy said quickly, holding up her hands up in surrender as she laughed with the rest of the group.

"Speaking of tutoring," prompted Mirajane, turning to look at Lucy once the laughter had died down, "Did you finish learning football?"

"Sorta. I got most of it, but I'm still confused on a couple things."

"Would it help if you and Levy were to watch them?" opted Erza.

"Watch them?"

"They are at practice now, aren't they? Maybe if you watch them go through a couple of plays you might understand it better."

"Huh," said Levy, "I never thought of that. But wouldn't we miss out on the party? I mean, I just convinced Lu-chan to join."

Lissanna shook her head and pointed her finger over at the plastic table they had laid out at the start of the party. However, what use to be heaps of brownies, punch, cookies, cupcakes, pizza, and chips was now only an assortment of empty plates and bowls scattered on the white tablecloth.

"Everyone went out to replace the food. I would say you have about ten minutes until the party starts kicking again" She grinned. "You know a Fairy can't have a good party without a constant serving of food. Just hurry back."

"Works for me," said Levy, finishing her brownie off and dusting the crumbs on her skirt. She looked at Lucy with a questionable look, "You want to go?"

Lucy frowned. It would be nice to go see them play it out in action. It usually worked better for her if she were to see it rather than read about it. Yet, there was only one thing:

"What about the rule?" she asked.

At this, the group froze as if the thought had just occurred to them too. Levy was first to break when she furrowed her eyebrows and glanced at Erza, "I forgot about that."

The rule had actually been a very recent development to Víla High. Ever since their school had begun having trouble with the football stands filling up with girls after school, who actually on came to flirt with the guys or see who could distract the most with their squeals and shrieks. Incidentally, the guys had found entertaining their fans much more enjoyable than actually practicing their game. And after the overall winning streak began to plummet, the office instituted a rule that no girl, other than the manager, was allowed near the guys while they practiced.

"No matter." said Mirajane, "We can use our veto rights as the Newspaper to counter the rule."

Lissanna looked at her sister in surprise, "I didn't know we had something like that."

"We don't."

"Then how-?"

Mirajane, instead of answering, merely tapped her chin and gave Lucy a small grin that made her gut sink. Something told her she wasn't about to like where this was going.

Mirajane reached over and dug through one of the nearby cabinets, before extracting one of their cameras, which was now broken from when someone had decided it wanted to take an impromptu swim in the swimming pool, a pen and notepad, and two black hats with the word "PRESS" written on a notecard and stuck into each of the hat's ribbon - something Jellal had bought as a joke.

Levy casted Lucy a sideways look as if to ask if she knew what was happening. Lucy, in turn, shrugged and stayed silent. She had long ago learned not to question things and to just let them take their course when it came to Mirajane's plans. It wasn't like she could have said No anyways.

"Alright! Now, you take this," Mirajane said, placing the hat on Levy's head and pushing the notepad and pen to her chest. She turned to Lucy and flipped the camera around her neck, "All you have to do is tell Coach Makarov you are here under the 'Right of the Newspaper', or something fancy like that. He should eat it up right away."

"Will that really work?" Levy questioned as she pushed the brim of the hat up so it didn't cover her eyes.

"No idea!" Mirajane answered cheerfully, causing Lucy to lose any remaining hope for the plan to actually work.

"What about Natsu?" Lissanna inquired, "Our "Rights" will just become meaningless when he get distracted by Lucy."

"Then, I won't do anything to bring attention to myself." answered Lucy, simply.

Erza shook her head, "It's not really what you do that matters. The problem is more of your presence than anything."

My presence? Lucy knew Natsu tended to get distracted when she was around, but would he really pick her over fighting people. Fighting that he wouldn't even get penalized for! Highly unlikely.

"No problem then." Lucy answered trying to sound reassuring, "He might say Hi or something, but I don't think it will be enough to get us kicked out."

As this, the rest of the group exchanged glances. And although they stayed quiet, Lucy felt like they were all having a conversation and were thinking the same thing. After a moment, Mirajane nodded and looked at Lucy.

"Lucy, have you ever looked at Natsu?" she asked, slowly.

"What are you talking about? I look at him all the time."

Erza shook her head in disapproval, "That's not what she meant. I mean, really looked at him; not just in parts, but as a whole."

Lucy blinked. A what now?

"I think I'm missing something here," she said, turning to address the rest of the group, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing really." said Levy slowly and although she was addressing Lucy, her gaze trailed Mirajane, who had suddenly busied herself with clearing the empty food table, like she was waiting for something. Suddenly, her eyes visibly brightened and Lucy could have sworn she saw Mirajane nod.

"We'll be back in a bit." said Levy suddenly. She spun quickly on her heel before walking towards the door, leaving a very confused and stunned Lucy in her wake. When she made it to the door, she looked over her shoulder, "Are you coming?" she asked, perplexed on why she wasn't following.

"Oh - um - yeah!" said Lucy, moving towards the door, but keeping her eyes trailed on Mirajane waiting for her to make another move. She didn't.

"And don't let Jet steal all the red velvet cupcakes!" called Levy once Lucy had reached her.

Erza raised her hand in acknowledgment as Levy turned her head back around. Just before the door to the classroom shut behind them, Lucy managed to catch a glimpse of Mirajane smiling at the table top happily. Much like what Lucy imaged a mother would look like once her son finally understood something they had learned months ago at school; thrilled he finally understood, but also saddened it had taken so long.

A/N It's short. Shorter than usual. But! The next one is will be longer and be here before you know it. Just think of this chapter as a set up for the next one. I was thinking of updating around Halloween time frame. . .

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