Hello my beauties! Sorry it's been so long, I just didn't feel inspired and all that excusing jazz, blah, blah, blah. Here's the next chapter and I'm thinking we're jumping right into the Tenrō arc. Huzzah! This is where most of the emotions come out and we get to see Lucy snap at some point and slap Natsu around. I'm gonna need to research this arc though, it's been so long! But it's my favourite :)

Disclaimer: Igneel has returned! But I don't own him or any other characters or plotlines in this beautiful series called Fairy Tail. Just those of my own creations.

Warning: Some language and general angstiness from Lucy. There'll probs be fighting as well, 'cause of the exams, ya know? And it may seem like there's a bit of Natsu bashing in here, but it's from a logical and Lucy's point of view, so he's going to seem like an idiot with the emotional range of a teaspoon. Sounds like another flame head. *Cough*RonaldWeasley!*Cough*

3rd Person P.O.V.

Lucy's jaw creaked as she yawned and stretched her (fully functioning!) arms above her head. Dropping them, she rolled her shoulders, trying to wake up completely. "Man! I am wiped~!"

Her companion that was walking casually beside her chuckled. "Well, I am as well, Lucy-chan. Especially after how Erza slave-drove us! I mean, we go on a job with her for two months, battling monsters, and then we only get two days away from her until we have to train with her for a week! Talk about close accommodations there!"

Laughing at Cana's enraged expression, Lucy answered her as they rounded a corner of Hargeon's busy streets. "You did say we had to train our best for these exams at such short notice, and I only suggested Erza's help; you didn't have to accept. And besides," Lucy said before Cana could argue against her points, "we did get stronger, didn't we?"

"Yeah," sighed Cana, sounding defeated. "But was it really necessary to disappear into another bloody forest for a week – unable to see anyone or find good booze – just to get some more skills in hand-to-hand combat?"

"I'd say yes," Lucy replied honestly. "I couldn't really do this before, could I?" The blonde stopped in the middle of the street, bracing her legs before flipping into a front flip that was executed perfectly.

"You were already getting close to doing a flip without falling on your face while we were on our job," Cana complained, brushing past the few pedestrians who had turned at Lucy's sudden acrobatic display. "And would you stop doing that all the time?"

"Doing what all the time?" Lucy asked innocently as she smiled at a bedazzled little girl before jogging to catch up to Cana.

The brunette turned her head to look at Lucy disbelievingly. "The whole thing where you break into sudden – and incredibly unnatural – gymnastic crap all the time. You know, the one where you drop into the splits on the ground to pick up something you've dropped, rather than just crouching down and standing up like a normal person?"

Lucy shrugged disarmingly. "It's more fun that way, and Erza did say to get in as much practise as possible."

Slapping a hand to her forehead, Cana rooted around in her blue, fuzzy side-purse for any type of alcohol that would ease the headache she could feel growing behind her eyes. "You have been hanging out with those idiotic teammates of yours way too much."

"It's good then that I spend so much time with you then! You help balance it out!" Lucy giggled as she swept Cana's arm into the crook of her good arm's elbow. "But are you ready for these exams?"

Taking in the sight of the crowd of familiar looking people standing outside a tall ship, Cana nodded determinedly. "You better believe it."

Lucy giggled again. "I never doubted you."

The two girls fell into companionable silence as they walked towards the gathering of S-class participants that stood on one of the numerous docks of Hargeon. A small blue-haired girl in the crowd caught sight of them and broke away from her male companion to come racing towards them. "Lucy! Cana!"

"Hey Wendy," Lucy laughed as the girl came to a skidding stop in front of them, already starting to burn a bright red from her unexpected and boisterous attitude.

"Hey little one," Cana drawled, sipping at a bottle of some sort of beverage in her hand. "What's got you so excited to see us? You visited us every day in the past week to heal Lucy-chan, so why ya so worked up now?"

Still blushing, Wendy fell into step beside Lucy as they continued to walk towards the ship, most of the Fairy Tail mages attention on them now. "A-ah, it's just that…it's just that, we're going to the S-class exams! That's really amazing, don't you think?"

"Bah!" Cana waved her arm that wasn't entwined with Lucy in the air, alcohol sloshing in the bottle she held. "Been there, done that, got the scars."

"Nice twist there, Cana," Lucy commented absently before turning to the small girl beside her. "I also want to thank you once more, Wendy. Without your healing skills, I might've never gotten full mobility of my arm!" The blonde clasped her bandaged right arm determinedly. "Thank you so much!"

Wendy blushed brighter and ducked her head shyly. "It's no problem, Lucy. I'm happy that I was able to help."

"You did more than help," Lucy said, ruffling Wendy's hair.

"Lu-chan!"

The excited voice cut across the three girl's conversation and they looked towards the group of Fairy Tail mages to see an excited Levy hurrying towards them.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy squealed, disengaging her arm from Cana's so that she could collide into a hug with Levy. "How are you?"

Pulling away from the hug far too quickly for Lucy's taste, Levy looked her up and down at arm's length. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, Lu-chan? You come in bleeding everywhere, and lie unconscious in the Infirmary, only to have disappeared by morning! Then," Levy cut across Lucy's protests with an uncharacteristic gleam in her eyes, "Natsu won't let us go to your house for two days since you're 'recovering.' But when I finally go to see you, you're not there!" Levy's eyes were dangerous as she narrowed them at a sudden shivering Lucy. "Explain."

"None of it's my fault!" Squeaked out Lucy, terrified by this new side of her normally cute and innocent friend. "Natsu's the one in fault for the first two! And the reason I wasn't at my apartment when you visited was probably because I was training with Cana and Erza in that forest that Erza normally trains at! Pleasedon'thurtme!"

At hearing Lucy's explanation, Levy relaxed slightly and let go of the visibly shaking girl, perspiring viciously even in her tank top and shorts. "Fine. I guess you didn't do anything wrong." As Lucy relaxed, Levy got close to her face again, eyes narrowed. "But you could've told me! I had to find out from Wendy where you were!"

"I'm sorry!" Wendy piqued up from behind Lucy. "I didn't realise I had to tell anyone of your location, Lucy! I told Levy-san because she asked me."

Only one person cared about you enough to ask about you, whispered Lucy's thoughts as she placated Wendy with kind words. Look, look. Everyone looks so surprised to see weak, little, Lucky Lucy Heartiflia. "What's the weakling doing here?" They whisper. "She's just going to slow down the lovely Cana with her meagre skills."

Lucy smiled and chattered away with Levy, occasionally conferring to Cana and Wendy as she did so; all the while, studiously ignoring the dark thoughts that had been plaguing her for the past week.

My oh my, Gray didn't ask about you once, did he? Not even when you're his teammate and injured does he care. Those sympathetic looks he gave you when the exam participants were declared were all false. He's faking it, Lucky Lucy. Faking it so that he can take great glee in watching you bend and break under pressure. He takes your most powerful spirit and leaves without a thanks. Bye, Loke. Bye, Gray. See you never in this life!

'Oh gods,' Lucy moaned to herself internally as she greeted Juvia and Lisanna, who had teamed up. 'Now it's starting on my nakama. Would you just shut up already!'

Hearing voices is one thing, but talking to them is another. Mad, little, Lucky Lucy they'll be calling you soon. Madder than a March Hare.

'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!'

And how about Natsu?

'Not this again!'

He didn't ask about you at all, did he? Your 'partner' doesn't seem to care much about you. Your 'best friend' forgets you at a drop of a hat and a mention of glory. Not your noble and loyal Knight-in-shining-armour anymore, is he? Wake up and smell the blood, Lucky Lucy, that's the only thing that's real in this world.

"Hey, Lucy-chan?"

Blinking rapidly, Lucy turned her head to a concerned looking Cana. "Um, I'm sorry, what? I didn't hear you there, Cana. Do you mind repeating it?"

"I asked if you were okay, Lucy," said Cana, giving the blonde a once over. "You looked a bit distant there."

The blonde giggled and waved it off, just like how she had been doing in the past week. "Sorry, Cana! I'm away with the fairies, aren't I?"

The wisecrack at their guild was enough for Cana and she broke into a roguish grin. "Funny one, Heartifilia. Real witty."

Laughing for real this time at Cana's sarcastic words, Lucy plopped down on a nearby barrel that was sitting unattended beside the ship. "What are we waiting for?"

"Master," said Cana, dropping ungracefully next to Lucy on the barrel, nearly shoving the girl off. "And Natsu, that idiot."

"Always late for everything except for battles," Lucy said with an amused sigh. "And I guess food, as well."

Cana hummed her agreement and took in the sight of her guildmates chatting with each other as she took a swig from her new bottle of rum. "Now we just wait."

"Hm," Lucy said, fiddling with her ponytail. "Now we wait."

Luckily, they didn't have to wait at all. Natsu came bounding up a couple of minutes later, Happy trailing behind him in the air.

"All right!" The boy yelled as he barrelled into the docks. "I'm all fired up!"

"Shut up, slanty eyes," drawled Gray from where he was standing next to Loke. "It's too early to hear your loud and annoying voice. Just hearing your voice makes me think I'm losing brain cells."

"Gray!" Yowled Natsu in challenge, fists lighting up. "You bastard!"

Deciding that she didn't want the ship that – she had deduced – was taking them to Tenrō Jima on fire, Lucy stood up to wander over and break up the fight.

"Stop it you two!" She shoved the two away from each other, dark glower on her face. "Save it for the bloody exams. You can beat each other into a pulp then, like you do every day."

Gray instantly backed down, not wanting to incur Lucy's wrath, but Natsu pushed against her arm, looking at her in bafflement. "Luce? What're you doing here?" Before Lucy could answer, or anyone else for that matter, he pressed on with a blissfully unaware, happy expression plastered across his face. "Oh! I know! You're here to see me off, aren't you? Thanks so much Luce, but I don't need your encouragement! I know I've already got these exams in the bag!"

A lot of the collected Fairy Tail mages found it very hard to not shake their head in disbelief, face palm, or drop kick Natsu into the ocean – or a boat, as that would be ten times worse for the motion sick Dragon slayer.

As for Lucy, it took all her self-control to not give into the little voice in her head (sounding suspiciously like Cana) that told her to Lucy kick him in the nuts and then continue to kick the idiotic boy into oblivion as she ranted and raved about just why exactly she was here.

"No, Natsu," the blonde gritted out, temper barely controlled. "I'm not here to see you off. Maybe the way I've been away for the past week may tell you why I'm here." There, it shouldn't be too hard for him to realise that she was here to compete as a partner in the S-class exams.

Unfortunately, Lucy forgot how dense Natsu could be, and how he spoke bluntly and straight-forward. He never really was good at deducing words and sentences.

"You were away for a whole week?" Asked Natsu, slightly alarmed. "Really?"

To basically everyone else gathered, it seemed like Natsu was being completely rude and hadn't noticed Lucy's disappearance from the guild, especially since he was the one who had brought her to her apartment and had been worried for her condition. But, as a matter of fact, Natsu had been ferociously trained by Happy and hadn't even had a chance to go to the guild himself. And the reason why he was reacting so to her statement was because he thought she had left on another mission! He believed that she had gone off on a dangerous job by herself, without him! Not going into a nearby forest to train – although that wouldn't have been much better in his standards as he had offered to train with Lucy several times earlier in the year and she had declined.

So it was safe to say he was the only one who was surprised when Lucy drew one of her long, slender legs back and slammed them mercilessly into his balls.

All of the Fairy Tail mages winced as Natsu crumpled into a whimpering heap, hands around his damaged goods. They would all deny later on that their hands didn't go to their goods as well and they all made sounds of discontentment.

Huffing, Lucy spun on her sandalled heel to stalk over to her partner, the other girls all flocking around her, tittering quietly in comforting words; most of them cursed males existence and their stupidity sympathetically, not one of them sparing a passionate look back to a comatosed Natsu. Not even Lisanna or Wendy, who were normally very compassionate to other people's pain, looked back at their nakama.

Freed took in the image of Natsu still lying on the ground and looked to his friend and teammate, Bixslow, with a blank look on his face. "I won't make fun of you anymore for being beaten by Heartifilia-san."

"Finally!" Bixslow threw his hands up in the air in frustrated relief. "I told you Cosplay queen was tough as hell and doubly as scary!"

"I'm her teammate," Gray inputted, "I know how scary she can be. She can be a hell of a whole lot like Erza."

The other males shuddered, excluding Gajeel, whose eyes meandered from Natsu, Gray, Cana and Lucy. 'Funny, how Icicle still thinks they're still a team. You can practically see the cracks in their friendships. Bunny girl,' here, he narrowed red eyes at a flustered Lucy who was being sympathised with by a complaining Evergreen. 'Is not going to trust anyone that easily after being betrayed by her best friend like that.' His eyes flickered over to a slowly recovering Natsu. 'If Flame-brain had acted sooner, none of this would've happened. If he had apologised and not ignored her, Bunny girl would've continued on like usual.'

'Instead,' now he looked at Cana, whose arm was slung around Lucy's shoulders, drawing the blonde in close; not like it seemed to matter to the blonde. 'Other people picked her up and helped her carry on, making her form bonds with them.' Wendy caught his eye and he watched the little (sister) look up at Lucy, chattering away like she hadn't been crushingly shy when he had first met her. 'Or even form stronger bonds with those she was already somewhat close to.'

'Cana, Wendy, Erza, Juvia…those are all females,' Gajeel thought curiously, eyes flickering over the crowd of girls. 'She hasn't gotten closer with any other males, which could be considered odd, as Lucy has never seemed to heavily prefer to hang out with females more than males. She should've at least gotten close to one male. Maybe she lost trust for males since her betrayer was a male?' Gajeel mused thoughtfully before shrugging to himself. 'Gihi, who cares? I'm not psychiatrist, so who am I to say?'

A lilting call of his voice courtesy of Levy pulled him out of his thoughts, and the Iron slayer found the petite girl pouting up at him from her titchy height.

"What is it, Shrimp?" He asked gruffly, mildly embarrassed about being caught unaware.

"Come and talk to the others!" Levy pursed her lips at his stubborn expression. "Come on, Gajeel! It's time for you to be social! Now let's talk to the others!" Catching the significantly bigger mage unawares again, Levy latched onto his arm and pulled him, stumbling, towards the group of females she had detached herself from.

'Doesn't she realise that she's dragging me into a bunch of females?!' Gajeel thought a bit desperately as he stumbled to a halt just outside the circle of Fairy females. 'I'm going to die!'

But at seeing both Juvia, and surprisingly, Lucy, look up at him and acknowledge him with a smile and shy wave (the wave courtesy of Lucy), Gajeel found himself, not torn to shreds like he thought, but gently pulled into a conversation. Not about shoes or make-up like he believed that females all females only talked about, but about magic and the pros and cons about using certain types of magic and their attacks.

"No!" Levy passionately said from her position at Gajeel's right elbow, frowning across at Juvia. "Just because you're a Water mage doesn't mean you're limited to working only with those of similar types of magic! Although you do work well with Gray," the Script mage said quickly to placate Juvia, "you could work well with someone like Laxus; he could use your water as a conductor for his lightning attacks."

At Evergreen's nod of confirmation (no one else knew Laxus's attacks and their compatibility than someone who worked beside the man), Levy pressed on. "And you could work well with Lu-chan! You have a spirit that uses water attacks, right?" She addressed the last part to a startled Lucy who nodded.

"Yes," agreed Juvia reluctantly. "Juvia could work with Laxus-san, but she's already found she works well with Lucy-san. Could she not simply work beside her and Gray-sama?"

"You've worked with Lucy?" asked Lisanna curiously, as she had only seen Juvia's obsessive love for Gray and how she had defended against Lucy, aka Love rival; not how Lucy and Juvia had made up and gone on a job together.

"Juvia has," the Water mage said easily. "Juvia and Lucy-san have done a Unison raid together with Aquarius-san."

A low whistle escaped some of the girls, alongside gasps of amazement, and some clapped Juvia and Lucy on the shoulder.

"Isn't that impressive, Gajeel?" Levy tugged on the broad arm of her partner, eyes shining.

"Yeah," Gajeel replied gruffly, "cool." Even though he seemed nonchalant about it, Gajeel was pretty impressed about Bunny girl's abilities.

"Have you ever done a Unison raid, Gajeel?" Came the curious question from Wendy, and Gajeel found several pairs of eyes on him and that he was now including into the circle and conversation. Grumbling about the attention, Gajeel began to speak in short sentences, slowly getting more and more incorporated into the discussion.

'I'll never understand girls,' the slayer thought absently to himself as he found himself in heated discussion against the merits of blunt weapons in battle with an adamant Cana. 'They are odd creatures.'

What Gajeel didn't realise was that he was the current envy of his fellow Fairy Tail males, all of their attention and glares fixed on the large male who was currently pressed up against Levy and a busty Cana in the circle they had formed.

"Lucky bastard," muttered Bixslow, to the nods of his companions.

"That's manly!" Bellowed Elfman. "I shall try my hand at this manly activity!"

Luckily, before Elfman could blunder his way into the conversations the girls were having, Master appeared on the edge of the boat, peering down at his collected brats. "Listen up everyone!" He shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Hurry up and board the boat so that we can get these exams underway!"

There was a collective roar of agreement as everyone began to race towards getting onto the boat, drowning out the whimper of 'b-boat?' that came from a now recovered Natsu.

"I can't believe Master was on here the whole time!" Complained Lucy to Cana as they made their way onto the deck. "We didn't have to wait there so long!"

Cana shrugged before meandering her way over to one of the deck chairs that had been laid out. "Who cares! Let's strip to our bikinis and get a beautiful tan! I have a feeling that today is going to be hot as hell!"

Finding no problem with that, Lucy stripped off her shirt and shorts to reveal her white bikini with a pink flower across her chest. She flopped down in a chair beside Cana, her thoughts never once going to the Fire Dragon slayer that had to be dragged up onto deck by Loke and was dumped in the corner to suffer by the sadistically happy spirit.

'Revenge for Lucy!' The Lion thought as he chucked Natsu without a care onto the hard wooden deck, grinning at the hollow thunk the boy's head made when it connected with the deck. "Have a fun trip, Natsu~!" Called the spirit over his shoulder as he waltzed over to get a free show of Lucy and Cana.

Natsu couldn't reply as the ship creaked and began to sway, invoking his motion sickness.

"Poor Natsu," Happy hummed, sounding not sorry at all. "Ah well, that's what he gets." The exceed turned tail and fluttered over to chat happily with his favourite blonde, having missed her in the week he hadn't seen her.

"Why are we last?" Moaned Lucy as she jogged with Cana up to the part of the caves in which they would chose the paths they needed to go along to make it to the next part of the exams. "Stupid Levy and her script magic! How come she couldn't have helped me?!"

"Us, you mean," Cana said dryly as they approached the network of caves.

Lucy just waved away her comments as she took in the caves. "Damn it! There's only one cave left! We don't get a choice at all since we were last."

"Tch," scoffed Cana, "well, we shouldn't stand around here complaining. Let's get moving!"

"Un!" Lucy broke into a run beside Cana, their sandalled feet slapping against the ground as they ran. "Do you reckon it'll be fine fighting in our bikinis? It won't give us much cover for physical and magical attacks."

"Meh," Cana began to scramble up a slope to reach their cave, "it's not like I haven't done this before. And besides, you've got your backpack with your clothes in it and your gloves if you really want protection, don't you?"

Nodding, Lucy swung her small backpack off one shoulder so that she could rummage around in it. Making a victorious exclamation, the blonde pulled out her red gloves, quickly pulling them on and zipping the bag back up as they entered the cave.

"Whoa," Lucy murmured as they slowed to a walk, taking in the sight of the cave that wasn't dark, like she had expected, but glowing softly from fine little particles of light that danced around the rocky, moss covered walls. "It's beautiful."

Cana whistled lowly in appreciation before launching into a jaunty tune that somehow lifted Lucy's spirits significantly. After a few moments of walking down the tunnel they were in, accompanied by Cana's numerous whistling tunes (all learnt from different bars she had been in at numerous levels of intoxication), the two girls heard a new sound echoing down the tunnel.

"Shit!" Lucy hissed quietly, hand clamping over Cana's mouth to stop her whistling as she pulled herself and the brunette close to the wall. "We've got opponents!"

"I swear to god," mumbled Cana as she pulled Lucy's hand off her face, "if it's Erza, I'm going to scream."

"I second that," Lucy whispered, "but shut up, they're coming."

The footsteps got closer and soon Cana and Lucy could hear voices accompanying the pair of footsteps.

"Two people," Lucy sighed in relief, "so no S-class mage."

"But who could it be?" Cana questioned, eyes peering through the half-lit air, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was coming by. "It sounds like it's two males…"

"Gray and Loke or Freed and Bixslow," Lucy murmured, remembering the match-ups of the participants. "Neither sound like a good option."

"Well," Cana said with a sneaky smirk, "if it's Loke and Gray, you can send Loke home while I seduce Gray. It wouldn't be too hard."

Lucy rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. "No, Loke opened his gate to this world with his own magic, I get no say in sending him home, so that's out."

"Fine," said Cana with a pout, "I get to seduce them both!"

"They might not even be Gray and Loke!" Lucy protested. "It might be…" Her eyes widened as she took in her opponents. "Freed and Bixslow…"

"Oh?" Said Bixslow, taking in the sight that befell him. "Cosplayer queen and the drunkard?" =His tongue flopped out as he grinned. "Nice position you got there, ladies."

Both Cana and Lucy blinked at him before looking at themselves. Lucy hadn't let Cana go from when she had pulled them against the wall and, as she had pulled Cana towards her, herself. The brunette was flattened against her as they tried to stay as close to the wall as possible as to not be seen, which made both her and Lucy's rather large breasts press up against each. All in all, it was a very compromising situation.

Lucy let out a squeak as she realised what it looked like (two girls making out if you hadn't caught up with that fact yet), but Cana quickly wrapped her arms around her, drawing them even closer so that their faces were pressed against each other and their legs entwined. "Like what you see, boys?" She purred to Bixslow and Freed in a husky voice, winking at them flirtatiously.

Bisxlow giggled and his babies mimicked him, coming out from behind him to take in the scene. Freed, on the other hand, flushed a pretty red, looking like a flustered school boy rather than the usual noble man he was.

"Aww," Cana cooed, arms tightening around a struggling Lucy, "look at little Freed! He's all flustered!"

Said mage turned his head away, determined to not show off his flushed cheeks. Bixslow snickered and began to mock him, his babies echoing his words every now and then.

"Now Lucy!"

Both males turned their attention back on their opponents with a look of surprise as they suddenly rushed them, Lucy's whip in hand and Cana's fingers deftly holding a bunch of her cards as they glowed.

Lucy vs Bixslow

Bixslow dodged the initial attack of Lucy's whip snapping out towards him in what was meant to be an upfront attack, but didn't expect the blue, glowing whip to suddenly extend and wrap itself around his legs. Lucy yanked her arm back and watched with a sense of victory as Bixslow was pulled off balance and went sprawling on his back.

"Lucy! Lucy!" Bixslow's dolls chirped before firing off green bolts of energy, all of them narrowly missing the blonde who disengaged her whip from Bixslow so that she could snake around the attacks.

"Nice one Cosplay queen," grinned Bixslow as he popped upright, his babies dropping back to float around him, ready to attack or defend. "But you're going to have to do better than that if you want to defeat me again! I've been training hard since we last met!"

"Good to know that makes more than one of us," Lucy snarked back, holding her whip at the ready. "But I thought we were here to fight, not chat like two gossiping girls."

"Girls! Girls!"

Bixslow let out a howl of laughter. "Oooh, it seems that little blondie's been working on her witty comebacks since I last versed her! Your idiot teammate rub off you then?"

"And what teammate might you be talking about?" Lucy asked calmly, seeming like she was simply talking to Bixslow, but was running through what spirits would work well against him. She didn't have Loke like last time, so it was important that she went with smarts, not just by overwhelming him with power.

"Natsu of course," Bixslow replied to Lucy's question, slightly confused. "Who else would I be talking about?"

"Well," said Lucy simply, "it's been a while since I've been on a team with him, so you can never be too sure. You could be talking about the silly brunette behind me who is currently duking it out with your partner."

"Hey!" Called out Cana from where she was flinging her shuriken cards at Freed, having them all deflected by his sword. "I resent the fact that the best you could come up with is silly for me! I thought you were better than that, Lucy-chan!" The brunette rolled away from one of Freed's rune spells, hiding her worry against hiding an old opponent that she lost to with a wide grin.

The blonde rolled her eyes in fond exasperation before drawing one of her golden keys off its customary belt on her hips. "Whatever, Cana. Could you just…hydrate this place a bit, I'm getting sort of thirsty."

Pulling her head away from a sword strike and the fight at hand, Cana caught sight of the specific key in Lucy's gloved hand and her eyes gleamed as brightly as the golden key. "Rightio, Lucy-chan! Remember, you can't touch the water!" The brunette leapt away from Freed so that she could rummage through her side purse. Upon pulling out a card, Cana slammed it onto the ground while she yelled out, "The Prayer's Fountain!"

A large torrent of water exploded out of the card in several ferocious streams that blasted straight for Bixslow, his dolls and Freed, barely missing Lucy as they went.

After bending away from the dangerous water stream, Lucy plunged Aquarius's key in the water, making sure to not get water on her hands. Unlocking the gate with a burst of power, Lucy leapt back as Aquarius came out of the water, her usual annoyed look on her face. "What do you want?"

"What a babe!" Bixslow crowed, having dodged all the streams with ease, alongside a composed looking Freed and his babies.

"Tch," a dangerous look came into Aquarius's eyes as she turned to Bixslow, "what did you just say to me?"

'Crap…' Bixslow thought as the enraged spirit glared at him, 'I probably shouldn't have said that…stupid brain.'

"I have a boyfriend you ass!" Aquarius roared, twisting around in the last splutters of the Prayer's Fountain, brandishing her vase. "Take this!"

Curiously, Aquarius's rage was so great at Bixslow that she skipped the whole drown-everyone-especially-Lucy part, and instead, blasted a steady and strong geyser of water at the surprised mage, lifting him and his babies up and tossing them into the wall behind him.

"Good job, Aquarius!" Cheered Lucy happily as she took in the crumpled form of Bixslow and the drenched form of Freed who had gotten caught in the spray. "Your accuracy is amazing!"

"As if it wouldn't be anything less!" Scoffed Aquarius, flipping her shimmery hair. "Now, is there anything else you're dragging me away from my boyfriend for?" Aquarius said boyfriend with a leer, having stopped pressing Lucy to get a boyfriend after the whole debacle with Natsu, but more than happy to rub the fact that she had a boyfriend in the blonde's face.

"I don't need a boyfriend!" Yelped Lucy, fluttering her hands in her anger. "And no, I think your job here is done."

"Good," both Aquarius and Cana said at the same time.

Aquarius twisted around on the flooded floor of the cave to glare at Cana. "Bitch."

"Whore." Cana acknowledged back, eyes dark.

The standoff continued until Aquarius tossed her head again with a decisive snort. "The same as usual. I thought I'd be seeing the last of you in the accursed forest."

"Yeah," said Cana easily, "not a long enough time period to not see each other, is it?"

"No," Aquarius said shortly before rotating back to Lucy. "I'm leaving now. Don't call me for a week. I have several dates with Scorpio~!" The mermaid spirit sighed happily before disappearing in a flash of golden light, much like how she entered.

"Bitchy thing, isn't she?" Cana commented to Lucy absently as she took in the sight of Bixslow still lying on the floor. "Shit. Is he actually unconscious?" She looked over to Lucy who looked as surprised as she did. "I thought you said he was strong!"

"He was!" Lucy protested, not wanting to seem weak when she last versed him. "I don't get it!"

"You have gotten stronger," came Freed's calm voice, making the two girls look over at him. "Both of you," he said with a smile and a nod. "It will be a pleasure to fight you," he said, pulling out his rapier in preparation.

Lucy and Cana looked at each other before nodding. Lucy's whip clipped in a coil on her waist as she elected using her gloved fists, and Cana pulled out more cards, looking determined to beat the man who had defeated her so easily in the Fighting Festival.

Lucy and Cana vs Freed

After a moment of tenseness, all three dashed forwards, all eager to win. Or so it seemed…

Freed hid a smile as he twisted away from a haymaker that Lucy powerfully threw at him, before fending an approaching Cana off by swinging his rapier. Summoning up a small part of his magic, Freed wished pain upon Cana, blasting a dark spell towards the brunette containing his will. Cana barely dodged, feeling her nerve endings tingle warningly as the orb of dark magic brushed by her side.

Taking advantage of Freed's distraction, Lucy leapt up in the air, fully intent on dropping into a devastating axe kick upon Freed's head. As her leg neared his head, the green-haired man's hand shot up and grabbed her leg. He then pivoted gracefully and flung the girl. Lucy squealed as she went flying, but quickly regained her senses and flipped backwards in the air to land on the ground with a light tap of her sandals.

Cana, from her position away from the fight, held two cards together in her hand and flicked her arm out, but didn't let go of the cards. A large gust of wind twisted its way towards Freed, making the man summon his wings so that he could flap out of the way. Before he could fly high enough to reposition himself into a better position, Lucy's whip coiled around his leg and pulled him inelegantly to the ground with a sharp pull from the blonde who was immensely proud of her strength.

Freed attempted to land on the ground and disengage himself from Lucy's coils, but found Cana already in his face with her fists ready. The harsh right hook met him right in the cheek and snapped his head to the side, making him stumble sideways with the momentum.

Not letting her opponent recuperate, Lucy lunged for Freed after wrapping Fleuve dé toiles up and clipping it back onto her belt. Her red gloved hand slammed into his back and pushed the air out of his lungs. Cana joined in soon after, getting a few shots in while Freed tried to recover, but getting some equally in return as Freed directed Lucy's attacks into her partner.

They all disengaged after a few more shots at each other that merely grazed, all of them breathing heavily. It seemed like now was a good time for Freed as ever to be 'defeated.' He was actually somewhat awed by the girl's strength and worried about the moment that he slips up and one of their attacks really does hurt him.

"Before we continue," Freed said quietly, summoning up a blush to light up his cheeks. "Do you reckon you guys could get some clothes on? The way you dress is very exposing and…"

"Distracting?" Cana said coyly, an idea already forming. "Why don't you like us like this, Freed? Are we too…distracting for you to concentrate on fighting?"

Lucy stifled a giggle at Freed's flustered expression, taking note on how the man's face had gone a most beautiful and unique shade of red.

Freed stammered something out, but wasn't quick enough to stop Cana from pulling a card out and throwing it at his feet. "Sexy women card!" The brunet grinned as a scantily clad beauty appeared in front of Freed, already pressing herself up against him alluringly. "How'd ya like that, Freed?"

The man in question fumbled slightly before pulling up his rapier, looking like he was intending on using a pain-inducing spell on his two opponents.

"Not so fast!" Cana flung out several more of the cards, watching with glee as over twenty, bikini and lingerie clad girls came leaping out, squealing out 'Freed-sama' and pressing themselves against the ruffled mage, several of them brushing their lips against his body as they did so.

"S-stop it!" Freed wriggled and tried to escape the sexy women's clutches, but found himself held tight. "Oh please! No more!"

Cana wigged her eyebrows at an amused Lucy as she pulled out yet more cards. "Well, he asked!" The girl flung out more of the cards and laughed as nearly fifty girls were all swarming over Freed, calling out his name and diving on him, breasts shoved into his face.

"Why do you have these cards?" Lucy asked curiously, but bracing herself for what was sure to be a strange or stupid answer.

"Orgies."

"Oh, Cana, please don't. Just…never do that again, I beg of you!"

"I can't promise something that is part of me. You got the whole package deal when you got me as a partner."

"Just no more sex jokes, please."

"Still not promising~!"

"Can-! Oh wait! Look! Freed's unconscious!"

"Holy shit, I think he might be!"

"How do we check?"

"…"

"Cana, stop poking the man…Cana, I mean it!"

"Look at the face he pulls when I pull his hair!"

"Stop it, Cana! Dispel those sexy girls and let's go! We've won!"

"You're just jealous I have my own orgy…"

"CANA!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going! But holy shit we won!"

"I just said that, didn't I?"

"You love me too much to stay mad, Lucy-chan."

"Whatever, let's just go on to the next part of the exams."

"Roger that, Heartifilia!"

After making sure that the girls had already rushed on ahead, Bixslow picked his head up from where he had been playing dead and grinned over at Freed who had already sat up and recovered from his spell of 'unconsciousness.'

"You lucky bastard."

Okay, that's a wrap there!

It was a lightly bit tedious, not much happened, and it was kind of just canon at the end there, but Cana and Lucy are so fun to write together.

Cana is actually a slightly serious character – I know, I was surprised when someone pointed that out, but it's true! – but I much prefer her just being joking all the time. It's shown in the series that she's serious when it comes to battle and snuff, but I just like her cracking jokes in battle and having her egg people on, it's fun!

And Lucy joins in on the banter because she was with Cana for two months and has picked up the girls habits, shame on her! :D

Also, did you see that little Gajeel and Fairy females bonding? Nawww, so cute! Gajeel's a softy on the inside, and he's Levy's bitch! That makes him awesome in my books. There's also the fact that his laugh is insanely cool and he can use shadows as well as iron. And now he's got steel?! This man is going places! I hope he gets his dragon, he deserves it.

Anyways, hope it was alright and good enough for now! I hope to see you all soon!

Ciao.