"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Spells"
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is not mine. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
"Okay. First of all Ultear. I'm sorry. I am deeply sorry. I hope you can forgive me." Gray said
"Huh? What are you talking about?" raising an eyebrow
"The truth is... I... I... I got your mother killed!" Gray shouted
Ultear wanted to cry right then and there but decided not to show any emotions. "How?" Ultear said maintaining her stoic face.
"There was a demon that killed my village. The demon's name is Deliora. When I thought I could beat Deliora I did not have a second thought and ran off to defeat him but I was not even able to scratch that demon. When I was about to get killed Ur jumped in and casted Iced Shell. It is extremely powerful yet fatal magic. She will first form a stance which will then force a large amount of magical power to surround her, transforming her body into ice. Then Four magic seals will appear around the target, allowing her to surround them in ice and keeping them bound for an indefinite period of time. It is said that, from that point on, she will live as ice forever." Gray explained thoroughly with tears in his eyes holding them back.
At that point Ultear wasn't able to hold her back anymore and cried on Natsu's arm. Natsu put his hand on Ultear's head and said "Well then Gray, is that all?" he asked "Yeah and Ultear. I'm really sorry." Gray said giving Ultear a slight bow before walking away.
"It's not your fault." Gray stopped and turned around
"Yeah it is."
"Do you really think my mother would do something like that if she didn't think it was for the best?"
"No... I don't know."
"Just don't blame yourself for what she had done. It thought it was for the best so don't make her decision go waste, okay?" Ultear said with a slight smile before walking away with her head resting on Natsu's shoulder.
Gray was in utter shock. He didn't expect that he would be forgiven that easily. And that was the night he let himself cry like a baby.
Three Months Later
During those three months, two girls started to notice their feelings. Erza felt her feelings for Natsu grow stronger slowly day by day and Mira felt she had faint feelings for the dragon slayer.
"Alright brats! I will now annouce the S-Class candidates for this year!" Master said then the guild started to make noise
"What is an S-class?" Natsu asked
"S-Class are elite members of a guild, and usually among the most powerful individuals in the guild itself. They are the only ones who are able to undertake S-Class jobs." Erza said approaching Natsu and Ultear
"Oh, you mean the ones who are only able to go upstairs?"
"Yes, and right now we are going to have exam to pass to be an S-Class."
"A'ight brats the candidates are: Erza Scarlet, Cana Alberona, Laxus Dreyar, Mystogan, Freed Justice, Evergreen, and Natsu Dragneel! Now pick your partners. There are three rules about your partners. They should be a member of Fairy Tail and not an S Class. You've got three weeks to prepare, thats all!"
"Hey old man aren't you forgetting someone?" Mirajane asked desperately.
Master looked at the list "No, I don't."
"Are you sure you don't?"
"Yes Mira, I rechecked the list and I called everyone."
"You idiot old man!" Mira said crying before running away.
Natsu became worried about her since he didn't see her cry. Not even once ever since they joined the guild so he ran after her and found her at the forest.
"What are you doing here?" Natsu asked
"Nothing. Leave me alone." Mira said shrugging Natsu off
"Hey, Mira are you alright?"
"I'm fine so leave me alone."
"Leave you alone? While you're crying? Don't give me that!" Natsu said almost losing his cool.
Mira was shocked. Natsu raised his voice at her. No one was even brave enough to talk back to her with the fear of facing death and him... There wasn't a presence of fear in his voice.
"Mira... are you upset that you're not picked as an S-Class candidate?"
"No!"
"Then why?"
"I was just... I was just pissed that tin can got picked before me."
"It's always competition for you isn't it?" Natsu said with a heartwarming smile
"Of course! I won't lose and I hate to lose to that tin can!" Mira said with faint blush
"Then... wanna train with me?"
"What about Ultear?"
"We always train seperately then fight after training so it'll be fine."
"Fine."
Later that day
"Ultear! Mira and I will go training. Where will you train?"
"In the forest. Maybe somewhere close to our house."
"Good. Then we'll go deeper in the forest."
Three week later
Natsu's partner is Ultear, Erza's partner is Levy, Cana's partner is Lisanna, Bickslow is with Loke, Freed is with Gray, Evergreen is with Elfman. Mystogan and Laxus are alone. They are the only exception because he knows their case.
"Now Mira, make sure that the next time we hold an S-Class exam you will surely be the next S-Class got it?"
"Even if you didn't tell me I would, idiot."
"Alright Mira we will leave now."
"Okay."
At the boat
"Damn... I really hate transportations." Natsu groaned
"Yeah..." Ultear said
Then the boat suddenly stopped.
"This will be the first part of the exam. You will race from here to the island then you will pick a cave. Now, go!" Master said. Everyone already made their leave. Natsu and Ultear flew using their flames, Freed flew with his partner Gray and everyone else just swim.
Natsu and Ultear picked route E.
Route E.
"Hey Natsu, who do you think we'll face?" Ultear asked
"I don't know. Just prepare for the worst."
"Okay."
Not so long they met a figure of a man. Then the fireflies started glowing around him revealing every part of him.
"Looks like the exam will be hard on you Natsu."
"So its Gildarts huh? Ultear you'll have to throw everything you've got here after all." smiling at Ultear
"Then... Lets get started." Natsu launched himself to Gildarts igniting his hands with fire. Then it's Ultear's turn to attack "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" rushing towards Gildarts grabbing him before subsequently setting her hands ablaze but looked like it didn't affect him. "Well try this! Fire Dragon's Roar!" releasing a large torrent of flames from her mouth before sending another attack "Fire Dragon's Claw!" igniting her feet with flames Gildarts shielded himself and took the attack in his forearms then Gildarts suddenly grabbed Ultear's ankle dragging her down then catching her neck with his right hand 'Didn't think I'd caught her this easily. Now... what will you do Natsu?' Gildarts thought to himself
"Natsu give up now or I'll kill this girl." Gildarts said before releasing a murderous aura enough to make Natsu believe that he is serious. Natsu then remembered the time he lost his father. It was there again. Natsu is about to lose someone again. He didn't care about becoming an S-Class anymore. He knelt down and faced the ground "I give up... I lose... So please... Release Ultear." Natsu said with his tears started to stream down to his cheeks.
"Natsu..." Ultear said tried holding back her tears but failed. Tears started streaming down on her face with her head down.
"Excellent" releasing Ultear making Natsu's eyes widen.
"Doing what you can even if you have to throw away the chance to become an S-Class wizard and not making your own desire to become an S-Class wizard get ahead of you and chose to fail just to make sure your comrade will be safe is something that you need to become S-Class. Becoming an S-Class doesn't only mean you have to be strong. You also have to be kind, wise, and patient. Heart and Brains matter as well. You will reach the peak of the magic world if you have those. Now Natsu... Go. You pass." Gildarts said with a smile making Natsu's eye widen even more making his tears stop.
"But I..." only to be cut off by Gildarts
"Didn't your examiner said you pass? But don't think its over. The master is the one behind this so expect the unexpected. Now go Natsu, become an S-Class wizard."
Natsu and Ultear can only look up to Gildarts. Then Ultear ran off to hug Natsu.
"I'm sorry Natsu. I'm really sorry."
Natsu returned the hug and said "As long as you're fine then its fine, now let's go. Our examiner said we're free to go." before smiling at her. Ultear nodded and they stand up and started walking away then Natsu turned around "That's right old man, I'll become an S-Class and eventually reach the top of the magic world." Natsu said before giving Gildarts a thumbs up before walking away with Ultear.
The other routes are:
A - Mystogan vs Laxus, ended up both of them unconscious.
B - Evergreen and Elfman vs Freed and Gray, ended up with Freed and Gray winning.
C - Cana and Lisanna ended up walking on the safe path.
D - Bickslow and Loke vs Erza and Levy, ended up with Erza and Levy winning.
E - Natsu and Ultear vs Gildarts, they passed.
"So the ones who passed are: Freed and Gray against Evergreen and Elfman. Natsu and Ultear against Gildarts. Erza and Levy against Bickslow and Loke. Cana and Lisanna chose the safe path. And... Mystogan and Laxus ended up on tie making them both unconscious. Now... I will now take all of you on the next part of the test." Master said walking away making them follow him.
Somewhere in the middle of the island
"Alright, within this island I want all of you have a royal rumble. The last pair standing will be promoted into S-Class. But the participant will be the only one to be promoted the partner still have to take the exam next time we have the promotion if ever they were picked." Master explained.
"Ultear... wanna end this quick?" Natsu asked Ultear with a smirk
"Sure." Ultear replied giving Natsu her smirk. The two of them ran off somewhere to make up a strategy to take all of them down quickly. When they are already far enough the other participants were about to make their own strategies too but then stopped when Erza spoke.
"Let us all team up. We won't be able to defeat the two of them if we will not cooperate with each other this time. Natsu alone is enough to take us all down and Ultear is just as strong as I am. Let's make up a strategy and after that we're free to fight each other."
Everyone looked at her like she was mad except Gray. He witnessed how powerful can Natsu be. He then broke the silence.
"Yeah, I agree with Erza. I know how powerful Natsu can be." All of them are now satisfied and agreed to the proposal then prepared a plan.
At the same time with Natsu and Ultear
"Alright Ultear. Here's the plan. We won't be needing any exaggerated plans since we don't have a long time to prepare before they attack and I might suggest that they might have planned to team up to defeat us." Ultear nodded "We will just give our all to them if they ever tried to ambush us but if they don't here's the plan..."
With Erza and the others
"Alright there they are. Team Gray begin the opperation." Erza said
"Okay." Gray replied
"Ice Make: Lance!" Ultear heard Gray then immediately ignited her hand with fire and punched the ice "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Freed now!"
"Dark Ecriture: Pain!" Ultear didn't have time to dodge and took the attack.
"Aaaah!"
"Bickslow now!"
"Yeah! Come babies!" Making his puppets surround Ultear then released a beam.
"Did we get her?" After the smoke cleared all of them are shocked. They didn't see anyone. Then they all heard a scream from the sky.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" igniting both of her hands with fire then brings them together, creating a fiery explosion.
"Three down!" As soon as Ultear said that someone attacked her from behind she had enough time to react and dodge. It was Erza.
"I miscalculated. Defeating the three of them wasn't in my calculation. You're impressive." Erza complimented with slight disappointment on her voice because of her miscalculation.
"Well, Thank you!" before launching herself to her again.
"Haha. That's for sure! It's Ultear we're talking about!" Natsu said putting Levy, Cana and Lisanna on the nearest tree.
Erza cannot believe what she is seeing now. Natsu has defeated the three of them in a very short time. Even if Natsu is almost as strong as Gildarts they would have been able to keep him busy a little longer.
"I miscalculated. I was wrong about everything." Erza said. She was about to lose hope.
"No... you didn't. If we didn't train hard during those three weeks your calculation would be right. But we trained our asses of. Ultear is now stronger than you and Mira is about to be the same level as her since I trained her. Listen Erza, fighting isn't all about great strategy. You still have to consider your strenght. But of course if you only have strenght and doesn't have strategy there's still a possibility for you to lose because you won't be expecting how strong your opponents are and I'm sure they would have their own strategy. As Gildarts said " Doing what you can even if you have to throw away the chance to become an S-Class wizard and not making your own desire to become an S-Class wizard get ahead of you and chose to fail just to make sure your comrade will be safe is something that you need to become S-Class. Becoming an S-Class doesn't only mean you have to be strong. You also have to be kind, wise, and patient. Heart and Brains matter as well."" Natsu explained to Erza. Erza is now wide eyed as how Natsu thought things thoroughly. She didn't expect Natsu to be this ready.
"Ah. I lost. I'm still not... No, we're still not ready to be S-Class after all. I sacrificed everyone inorder to make sure that I'll be able to defeat you two. Now what did I get? I got lost without even a fight." Erza said with a smile and tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Haha. Don't worry there's always next time. But be careful. Ultear and Mira might participate next year and face you. Now let me give you a tip as a friend. Train hard. Not just your head but also your body and your magic and above all else don't lose your heart." Natsu said giving Erza a heartwarming smile making Erza blush.
"Ah~ah~. That was a complete lose." Erza said punching Natsu on his shoulder. Natsu just laughed at her. Then they felt a murderous aura being released by Ultear then Master appeared behind them.
"Alright Natsu, that was quite the speech. You really deserve the title of an S-Class mage. As of now I announce you an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail!" All of them just smiled and congratulated Natsu for passing the S-Class Exam.
A week Later
Everything is normal. There's something off and they can't point out what's that at all. Master came inside his office to think only to see a letter on top of his desk.
"Master, I will be gone for God knows how long to train so please cover up for me. If you want you can play a prank on them saying that I left the guild or something haha. Just be sure to tell Ultear the truth and please take good care of her while I'm gone. Don't worry I'll be back.
P.S
If you chose to play a prank make it interesting so they will not be worried and won't come looking for me and so when I come back I will not be bored."
"Haha. I didn't expect this at all. You're quite the sadist Natsu." Master said to himself.
At the hall
"Brats listen up! I have an announcement to make! Master shouted making everyone silent and stopped on what they were doing. "Natsu already left the guild!" Master said with a serious and straight face.
They now all realised what was wrong. Natsu is not at the Guild hall. He's not making things worse and interesting that day and that was what's wrong. Then they all heard a glass and a plate break. Erza and Mira were shocked. That was the last thing they expected. They both ran outside crying and devastated. Then they all looked at Ultear who had the worst reaction. She wasn't able to move. She wasn't able to do anything. She was just staring at the master with hollow eyes. 'Didn't he say that he won't leave me? Didn't he promise that he will stay by my side forever?' She had a train of thoughts with a emotionless face on the surface but after all of her train of thoughts 'Liar.' was the last thing that she thought.
With Mira
By the time Mira got home the first thing that she though was 'I guess the saying that "you only realise the importance of someone when they are already gone." is true after all.' while bawling her eyes out.
With Erza
'What's this? Why am I crying? Why am I this sad? Why do I feel so devastated?' was the only thought that replayed over and over on Erza's head.
At the Guild
They are all in silence then broke by the Guild Master.
"Ultear. Come to my room. Now." Ultear just followed like a robot on a auto pilot. Heads down with her eyes still hollowed.
At Master's Office
"Ultear... I am very sorry but I will only tell you the truth." This brought back Ultear to reality.
"What? What really happened to Natsu?!" Ultear said as she shook the master almost shouting.
"Calm down, child. He didn't quit. He just didn't want to make everyone worried and come searching for him. He went out to train. He didn't tell my why or for how long but please understand. Don't tell anyone. Think of this as an S-Class secret, please. This is Natsu's wish." Master said closing his eyes.
"Yes, and thank you for telling me the truth Master." This time Ultear was able to smile again.
Somewhere
"I am sincerely sorry Ultear. But I have to do this. Don't worry I promise I'll come back." Then Natsu set off for his journey.
'Ugh! I totally forgot about the fact that I am riding a train. Ugghh. I really hate trains.' was what he thought before passing out.
A/N: I'm really sorry for the late update. My two sister's graduation came up then we had a family time with my grandparents the very next day. We watched the Avengers it's really cool! Haha. Well, thats that. Thank you for reading!