I'm sorry for such a late update, Sieg took some time away from the internet :x
This will probably be the last chapter. (Probably)
So thank you for reading it and for the reviews. I hope the last chapter is what all of you expected.
Chapter 7: Sunday
Sunday came along with a sky filled with clouds. The wind sound was sinister in that morning giving Lucy a hard time alone inside Gray's room. She left the bed and went to the bathroom to wash her face, but in her way, Lucy noticed there wasn't anyone aside from her at the house.
So he wants to play hard to get. Fair enough.
Lucy fixed her hair and was about to leave the house when she saw a shining item over a side table. She sat on the couch and examined the object. It was probably something personal, but curiosity struck the blonde with all its force.
"Just a quick glance." Lucy's hand slowly approached a silver box, the girl opened it revealing its content. She couldn't contain her surprise as she saw the sparkling silver of two rings right before her eyes. "Oh no... what have I done?" Lucy rushed outside the house taking with her only the small box, her keys and her whip.
The blonde headed towards the guild. She laughed sarcastically as fate seemed to be playing around with her, a little misunderstanding was enough to make her act ever so coldly with her friend, the one who didn't think twice before allowing her in his house when she needed.
Now she had the bitter feeling that she wouldn't find him in the guild. Lucy stopped right before the guild doors trying to repel those pessimist thoughts from her head. The girl carefully moved the doors open.
"Ohayou, Lucy." Said Mira behind the counter. Mira wore a wide smile that day. Lucy observed the movement inside the guild was higher than normal, something seemed abnormal that day.
"Mira-chan, what's going on today." The celestial spirit mage asked just to be abruptly pushed away. "Get out of the way, this time I'll definitely be a man." Elfman roared making his way to the request board and ripping another paper.
"Don't tell me it is..." The girl said weakly while she barely managed to stand up and have a seat on a bench. "Not again!"
"I'm afraid it is." Mira said as she cleaned another cup. "The S-Class test, it was interrupted last time, so we'll be having another, and the ones who didn't have a chance last time we'll have a second try now." Mira finished much to Lucy's horror.
"What? How come I'm always the last one to know such important things?" Lucy winced.
"I... honestly don't have an answer for you." Mira bluntly let out with her index finger on her lower lip.
"Let me guess... Natsu and Gray are out on missions." Lucy pointed out. "Actually they are already qualified, so they don't have to." Mira replied. "The master will be announcing the other qualified mages today." The S-Class mage concluded.
"Something tells me I won't be among them." Lucy sadly retorted. "But if Natsu and Gray aren't on missions, where are they?" The blonde questioned.
"You're aware that Natsu and Gray killed spirits in the celestial realm, right?" Not waiting for an answer, the white haired woman proceed. "They've started suffering the collateral effects of having those powers into their bodies and-"
"What did you say? So they absorbed the power from the spirits? Those things were unbelievable strong!" Lucy exclaimed while she remembered her fight in the celestial realm. Why didn't I kill that damned brunette? I would be so strong now.
"I know right." Mira said with a lovely smile. "I heard you didn't kill the spirit in your fight." Mira stated and Lucy nodded. "I didn't, I wouldn't be able to kill a spirit even if I tried." The blonde said as images of her spirits crossed her mind.
"You did well. The power is great, but it's difficult to control, if you don't handle it carefully, you might die from it." Mira spoke as if it was nothing to worry about before offering Lucy a drink.
"They might what?" The girl jumped out of her seat. "They might die, and you say that with such a straight face." Lucy's eyes were filled with concern. She felt her heart racing in an amazing speed. "Where are they?"
"They left to the beach, the same you trained before." Mira didn't have enough time to finish her speech, as Lucy was already walking away towards the guild doors. "Bye!" The blonde said before leaving the building.
"Bye?" A dumbstruck Mira was left slowly waving her hand.
Outside, Lucy found happy looking devastated. The exceed had a fish in his hand, but didn't dare to bring it to his mouth.
"Lucy!" The cat exclaimed. "Have you seen Natsu?"
"No, I haven't, but I know where he is." Lucy replied in a hurry.
"I'll take you there." Happy proudly spread his wings and flew by Lucy's side in order to grab her arms and take off. "Nah, I'll pass this one." The girl revealed her much larger wings making Happy's jaw drop fiercely to the floor.
"W-W-W-What the... what's that, Lucy?" The exceed's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open.
"I don't have time to explain right now." Lucy took the cat in her arms and left after her two friends. Happy had a blank expression making Lucy somehow uneasy. She felt like she shouldn't, but decided to ask. "What's wrong with you?"
"I just found out I've become useless." Happy let out with the same vague look on his face. Lucy laughed softly trying not to offend the shocked cat in her arms.
No more words were spoken in their way to the beach. When they finally arrived at their destination, fire was all over the place, but not the slight sign of ice could be spotted.
Lucy landed gently on the sand. The blonde wiped some sand from her skirt and moved in Natsu's direction. Natsu was laying on the sand looking very tired.
"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed running to the fire mage's encounter. When the girl got close enough, she noticed, her friend's eyes were different. The salamander's eyes were dragon, his iris was red, and his pupil was squinty like a dragon's.
"Natsu? Are you alright?" Asked the concerned blonde. She softly dropped to her knees and ran a hand through Natsu's hair. The boy took Lucy's hand in his, and pulled her face to his. Lucy's reflexes took control of her arms throwing a noisy slap at the dragon slayer's face. A few moments went by with pure silence.
"She doesn't liiiiiiiiiike him." The exceed said amused with the force Lucy packed in that slap. He wondered if Natsu would stay conscious in case the girl had chosen to punch him.
Natsu held his face with one of his hands staring sternly at his blonde friend. "Why did you do that?" Asked the fire mage.
"And you have the courage to ask me why. I thought you'd understand right away, but in this case... You tried to kiss me!" Lucy shot a deadly glare at Natsu before standing once again and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hey look, I can see the mark of Lucy's hand on your face!" Happy spoke making Lucy wonder if she went too far with the slap.
"I thought you liked me, that's what everyone says." Natsu confessed still staring intensely at the girl. "Is that so? If you really thought I liked you, then you should have asked me out, or maybe show me that you like me too, but instead, you took me for granted and started trying to steal kisses." Lucy's words were harsh and they struck right in the salamander's heart, but even then, Natsu could see where he went wrong.
And maybe he did have a chance with her, they were the most likely to become a couple, now it was obvious to him, but his dense behavior and lack of love interest in the celestial spirit mage can be counted as the two main reasons for their current situation.
"Can't we start again? I promise I'll be an awesome boyfriend." Natsu sat and gave Lucy a look she had never seen in his face, it was a pitiful look, one that didn't fit the fire mage's personality.
"I'm afraid you took too long, if you would tell me this a couple of days ago, I'm sure I'd be willing accept, even when I said I looked at you only as a good friend." Lucy admitted with a sad look.
"Why can't you do it now?" Asked the boy with pink hair. He had a worried look, as if he already knew the answer. "Is it love? Is it love that you're feeling for Gray?" He rested his hand over Lucy's while he waited for his answer. The suspense consumed the boy's inside, every second the girl took to answer was torturing him, he almost wished he could read minds, but reading her mind could be
The blonde's lips started moving and word by word all Natsu's doubts left him, his hopes began to vanish giving place to anger and disappointment.
"Yes... I love him, it's no longer possible to hide it. I'm sorry, but I can't return your feelings." Lucy revealed, most like informed. She didn't feel bad for Natsu anymore, couldn't she have her own happiness? Must she do everything thinking about others? Why does she have to hide her feelings like this? Questions invaded the celestial spirit mage's mind, but something even more urgent was calling her attention.
"Where's Gray?" Lucy said suddenly alarmed by the thought. "I dunno exactly, the only thing I know, is that he is with Ultear trying to control his new power." Natsu carefully explained. "Even I had a hard time controlling it." The boy bragged.
"But tell me Lucy? What is it you feel for Gray?" Natsu started with a friendly tone, but the fire mage slowly started to get serious. "Are you sure it's love? You know, I could be a better boyfriend than droopy-eyes, I'll prove it to you." He stood up trying to reach her hand once again, but the blonde didn't allow it this time making the dragon slayer flinch.
"What is so special about Gray after all? I don't see why you'd take him over me." Natsu's expression changed, he was beginning to lose his mind, the feeling of rejection was getting the best of him in an amazing pace.
"I don't need to answer that." Lucy started walking away with a frown appearing in her face.
"I have the right to know! Don't leave me without an answer." Natsu insisted, even when he knew the answer would be negative, he just couldn't suppress his will to win the girl.
"You really wanna know, right? Ok, I'll tell you." Lucy stopped and sighed. She should have known it wouldn't be so simple when it comes to Natsu.
"I love Gray, because when I am with him, I feel like nothing is wrong, because when I'm not with him, being by his side is all I want. He makes my heart race in different ways." The girl stopped noticing there was no reply coming from the salamander. She turned to face her friend, and realized he was once again too close to her.
"No one will ever want you more than me." Natsu crossed his arms around the blonde's waist bringing her closer to him.
"That might be true, but even then, being wanted isn't everything. With Gray I feel wanted, I feel needed... I feel loved, what you feel for me can't be compared to this." Lucy lightly pushed her friend away from her.
"I need to go." With that, the celestial spirit mage left, leaving behind a hopeless Natsu. Happy watched everything in silence, and though the exceed could make some mismatching comments some times, he didn't dare to say anything this time.
"I won't lose you..." Natsu muttered to himself as he watched Lucy fading away in the distance. Happy patted his best friend's had trying to comfort him.
The streets of Magnolia were dark due to the clouds preventing the sun from touching the ground below. Lucy walked aimlessly trying to figure a way to find her friend. She's been trying desperately to figure where he could go if he wanted to be on his own, but she didn't find him in any of these places.
Deciding it was useless to keep wandering the around, Lucy headed back to the guild looking very upset.
Where did you go?
The girl sighed in defeat, she stopped before the guild gates thinking if she should go inside, or remain motionless. She put a hand over the cold wood of the gate and started pushing it open.
"Lucy! You came back just in time." Levy cheered from a table. "Master you announce the remaining people to the test." The girl informed.
"This time we will still have teams." Makarov said as he stood on the bar counter.
"The following members will be competing for the title of S-Class mage. Listen carefully." The old man pointed his index finger to the crowd.
"You already know the first two members. The third one is Gajeel Redfox!" Gajeel only grunted trying to look like it was already expected.
"Levy McGarden!" Jet and Droy cheered, but then remembered they would surely be left out this time, like the last one. From the other corner, a timid smile took place in Gajeel's features. Makarokv proceeded with the announcements.
"Juvia Lockser!" Juvia was smiling brightly, it was only when she took a small glance at Erza that her face turned back to a serious one. In the last test, the water mage had a hard time fighting the titania.
"Cana Alberona!" After hearing her name, Cana let out a long sigh. Although she looked like she already knew she would be chosen, it was clear that the card mage was relieved to take place once again.
"And the last one will be!" The master stopped after making the unnecessary suspense for his own entertainment. The whole guild joined in asking the same thing.
"How come only six people made it this time?" Elfman asked with a horrified look in her face.
"You shouldn't worry about it, you're the last one after all." The little master bluntly retorted. The guild fell silence. Everyone was surprised in different ways.
"Am I the last one?" Elfman questioned in disbelief. A few seconds went in utter silence, a lot of mages had their expectations broken this time, they worked hard for this, but even then, they couldn't make it.
"Not really, there's another one." Makarov said with a large grin. Suddenly all the guild had their eyes on the master again.
"It's Lucy Heartfilia." The old man finally finished the list. "So, are you ready?" Asked Makarov raising his hand and pointing his index finger to the ceiling.
"Yeah!" The guild responded in unison.
"Let's go Fairy Tail!" Natsu broke into the guild in the last second, Gray following close behind. At the other side, Lucy felt like a huge load left from over her back. The girl was beginning to worry about Gray's whereabouts.
"Gray?" Lucy walked towards the ice mage as fast as she could ignoring the events of last night, she felt her heart lighter, but as she kept her way to him, the blonde realized the boy wasn't so thrilled to see her. Slowing her pace, Lucy's face began to change to a worried one.
"Alright everyone! We'll decide the teams now." Makarov cut through Lucy's confusion earning her attention.
"Natsu and Lucy will form the Celestial Slayers team." The master announced much to Gray's horror. The ice mage has been awfully quiet this afternoon, Lucy wondered what could have happened to him.
"Oi! How come two of the selected mages will form a team? What if they win? Will both of them become S-Class?" Asked a drunk Cana.
"You'll see once you get there!" Makarov replied.
"I think we're being unfair here, shouldn't the same people that went last time go this time too?" Mira spoke behind her counter.
"That's up to me to decide, and I decide these are the ones taking the test this time." The little master said lifting his beer to his mouth. Mira was taken by surprise by such a harsh response and decided to keep quiet.
"Second team will have Cana and Elfman as members, should I name this team too?" Makarov scanned everyone's face to check the answer.
"Of course you should master, you named the last one." Mira decided to speak once again.
"Oh, that's because it was an obvious name. How the hell am I supposed to name a team with a person that spend more time drunk than sober, and a muscle-head?" The master questioned taking a long sip from his fourth glass of beer.
"I heard that!" Cana retorted. "If you have muscles, you're a man!" Elfman cheered.
"So we're basically all men here." Evergreen teased. "I meant huge muscles!" Elfman tried to explain himself. "You should give up, you're only making things worse." Evergreen replied. A huge confusion started with everyone suggesting names, and offending each other. Meanwhile Mira and Makarov discussed the future of their teams.
"What are you going to do about the name for their team?" Mira asked confused.
Makarov leaned closer to the woman to whisper. "I'll mix take over with something and see what I get."
"Master!" Mira sounded genuinely indignant, but deep inside she wanted to laugh. "When you look at Cana, what do you think?" She asked.
"Booze? What else would I think? She is always drinking wine directly from the barrels." Makarov answered once again, and this time Mira couldn't help but laugh.
"I got a name!" The master of fairy tail finally made up his mind. After cleaning his sixth glass of wine... or was it beer? Makarov turned back to face the guild people, he cleared his throat and continued to inform the name of their team. "Take booze!" The little old man proudly stated.
"What? You're kidding me, right?" Lucy sounded reluctant whereas her guild mates wore an agreeing face.
Some times I feel like I'm the weird one in this place.
"Juvia and Gray will be forming the following team, and I'll name them..." Makarov took his ninth glass of... what was it again? Whatever... it was alcohol, and then continued. "Ice today water tomorrow! Or the opposite, depends on which of them you take first."
Lucy sighed and cursed the old man, just when she needed to talk to Gray.
"And last but not least, Gajeel and Levy... will form... team Iron bookworms!" And of course, this name got the guild seal of approval.
When everything seemed to be ready and everybody was cheering and supporting their favorite members, a question emerged from below the excitement.
"What's the test this time?" Asked Lucy.
"I hope it's a battle!" Natsu exclaimed.
"You always say that, and you're always wrong, you should just give up." Lucy said already fuming with anger.
"It's a battle." Makarov let out bluntly. The guid fell silent.
"Did you hear that happy?" Between dumbstruck mages, Natsu asked joyfully while Lucy had her jaw hitting the floor.
"We didn't have any time to think about something better. So this time, it'll be all about battles." Makarov concluded.
"The fight will be out in the woods, we're leaving now!" Makarov led the way outside.
They were all worried in their own way, even though some of them didn't admit it. Natsu was bragging with Gajeel something about reaching the top and becoming the strongest mage in the guild in his usual tone of determination, Juvia and Gray were having a conversation about strategy, Cana and Elfman didn't seem to find a way to agree in anything while Lucy and Levy were discussing how stupid this test was.
It was around three PM when they arrived at the selected place. A forest with a large open area and some threes around. There was a small grandstand already waiting for them, since the rest of the mages would be watching and supporting.
"Master? Why did you chose such a place?" Levy asked out of pure curiosity.
"We'll sort the teams now, the rules are simple, when you can't stand anymore, you lose... just make sure you don't get too beaten to the point you can't stand tomorrow, or after..." The master said.
"Who organized this test? Natsu?" Levy questioned with narrowed eyebrows.
"The first two teams competing will be." The old man stopped, once again making everyone's heart race with excitement or just fear.
"Everyone please pick a number from one to four. We'll randomly generate the fights." Mira explained and started shaking her hand in a pot with the numbers.
"We're number one." Gajeel and Natsu said almost in unison.
"Natsu and Lucy can have number one." Mira stared explaining. "You two will be number two." Mira pointed to Gajeel and Levy. "You there, number three." She informed Cana and Elfman. "And you take four, is that alright?" Mira finished looking at Gray and Juvia, who just nodded in agreement.
The remaining mages started taking their seats, Erza sat besides Jellal who was invited by the master to join them. Another guest was Lyon, Juvia made sure he would be there.
"Looks like it'll be more like an emotional battle than a physical one." Erza whispered in Jellal's ear.
"Can you say that again?" The man asked teasingly, but Erza didn't seem to understand.
"I said, it'll be an emotional battle." The titania whispered once again. It was only when Jellal asked her to repeat for the third time, that Erza finally realized the intentions behind his constant lack of audition.
"Do you like the sound of my voice close to your ear that much?" Erza asked with a tempting face, still close to Jellal's ear. The man wasn't expecting such an approach, and fell silent.
The fairy queen smiled seductively and did something that made Jellal jump in his seat, she bit his ear tip, and licked it afterward.
"Behave yourself." Jellal nervously said trying to keep calm about the situation. That woman would learn a thing or two about teasing when they got back home.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Lisanna said as she tried to make her way to the next seat. "I think I'll take another seat." The girl smiled suggestively and left.
"See what you did?" Jellal tried to explain himself to Lisanna, but the girl knew exactly what was going on there.
After everyone had their seats, Mira proceed to inform the teams for the matches. "I'll now present you the first two teams heading to battle."
"And they are... Celestial slayers and Ice today water tomorrow." The woman happily introduced. Lucy and Gray exchanged looks of concern. People became aware of what the incoming battle would bring with it, and started making their previsions. Mumbling mages all over the grandstand discussed what element would be the winner, they obviously forgot to consider Lucy... again.
"Just kidding!" Mira said, and everyone instantly sent death glares towards the poor woman. "Natsu and Lucy will fight Gajeel and Levy." she finished.
"What? I can't fight her!" Lucy and Levy said together.
"I'm sorry, but these are the results." Mira said sympathetically
"So I just have to beat the salamander? I could do this everyday!" Gajeel hissed to Panther Lily.
"Don't get overconfident." The exceed alerted.
"I'll go first!" Natsu jumped inside the open area. "Lucy, if you don't want to fight, it's ok, I'll take both!" The fire mage was clearly even more confident than Gajeel.
"What did you say? I'll make you swallow your words." The other dragon slayer stepped forth to the match.
"Wait! Lucy and Levy are the first to go!" Mira rushed to stop the two mages who seemed ready to brawl. Once she got close enough to the two in the arena, Mira held their arms before they could take another step.
Gajeel and Natsu turned to glare at the woman, just to have the grasp around their arms tightened. "You really think your cute little faces are scary, right?" Mira sent a dark glare towards them while she spoke in a very low, but sinister tone, making the two shiver from head to toe. "You should think twice!" With that, Mira went back to her sweet state.
"Alright mina-san! First match will be between Lucy and Levy!" The white-haired woman introduced the first competitors and left the arena along with frightened dragon slayers.
"I can't..." Lucy said as she made her way to the fighting are.
"Me neither." Levy replied also approaching the main field.
"You may start now!" Mira gave them permission to start the fight, but they didn't seem to attend, instead they stood there looking at each other.
"You attack me first." Lucy ordered, clenching her hands in fists. "No, you do!" Levy retorted.
"I won't..." Lucy shot back. Several minutes passed, and only words could be spotted in the battle field.
"We should have known something like this would happen." Makarov whispered to Mira. "A bit too late to consider that." She replied.
When everyone was about to lose their patience, Aquarius' key dropped from Lucy's waist, and to her despair, it fell in a puddle of water.
"Which key is that?" Levy asked desperately, lifting her hands to her head.
"Aquarius'" Lucy replied with a blank face.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" The other girl questioned fearing for her life.
"We are..." The blonde answered still expressionless.
Aquarius came forth with her own magic power already looking quite annoyed. She turned to look at Lucy with anger traces on her face. The girl stood defenseless in front of the enraged spirit, she rose her hands in a protective way, shaking them in a denying motion with a look on her face that said 'it wasn't me'.
"You dared to let my key drop like this." Aquarius swung her jar in the air already preparing some water to pour down the whole place.
"At least aim at my opponent!" Lucy tried t convince her spirit not to murder her. From the other side of the arena, Levy's eyes snapped wide open with surprise. "I thought you said you don't want to fight me!" The girl exclaimed.
Aquarius flooded the main field with a strong stream of water carrying Levy away along its way. However, the audience missed an important point. Where did Lucy go? They couldn't see her in the right or in the left. The water was already gone, and no sign of the blonde.
"She is up there." Gray said looking at the sky. The rest of the mages did look at the pointed direction, but some of them still couldn't believe what they saw.
"Lucy... is flying." Natsu held his surprise as much as he could. "I told you she could!" Happy proudly spoke.
The celestial spirit mage landed gently on the main field, receiving the victory in the process.
"And the winner is... Lucy!" Mira announced, but the victor didn't seem to enjoy it as much as the noisy crowd.
"Next, we'll have Natsu against Gajeel. Oh, and Lucy! Nice move." Mira winked at the blonde and gave sequence to the next fighters.
"I'm all fired up. Bring it!" Natsu punched his knuckles together as he made his way to the field.
"You're in for some trouble now." Gajeel challenged.
"Ready... set... go!" Mira happily started jumping like a little girl as she said the last word. "Mira-nee, this isn't a race, you know." Lisanna alerted when her sister sat next to her.
"I know, but I always wanted to say that." Mira replied, and Lisanna sighed.
Gajeel and Natsu didn't waste any time studying the opponent, they rushed straight to a trade of iron strikes and flame blows. The two dragon slayers seemed to be fighting equally as they kept exchanging punches neither of them worrying much about the dodging part.
Half of the trees around them were already devastated by the magic attacks they threw towards each other. Natsu prepared his dragon roar, and Gajeel answered with his.
Fire and Iron collided in a clash to prove which was the strongest. One thing is for sure, they were running out of magic power very fast.
The two roaring mages kept raising the force put in their attacks, until the pressure was too high to maintain the balance, and before their eyes, a huge explosion occurred sending both fighters to opposite sides.
They laid on the floor, looking like they were done for the match, but knowing those two, and how stubborn they could be, no one dared to say the fight was over.
Lucy had her mind traveling far from the match, she couldn't stop thinking about the terrible mistake she's done yesterday. She tried to think about a way to talk to the ice maker, but he seemed to be avoiding her, and it was starting to bother her terribly.
The blonde kept watching the fight, and in between the pauses the two dragon slayers made to regain their breaths, Lucy directed quick glances at Gray, who didn't seem to respond at all. The girl stopped being worried about the situation, and started becoming angry at the lack of attention she was getting from the boy. Her boiling blood served as fuel to her, erasing her incapacity to move. In a matter of seconds, Lucy was already by Gray's side dragging him away from the grandstand. Juvia didn't mind the sudden interference in her conversation with the ice alchemist, she thought it would be better to let them be.
They left to a isolated are without major problems. The only thing wrong with their departure, was the fact that Natsu got enraged over Lucy deciding the fight wasn't worth her attention, and even worse, she left with Gray.
Gajeel had some serious problems coming his way.
Once they got far enough from the crowd, Lucy stopped not turning to look at her companion. They were near a lake with some bushes around. The place was really beautiful despite the dense atmosphere forming around the two mages.
The ice maker didn't know what to think, his brain has been twisted more than twice. Nothing made sense anymore. The same girl who avoided him yesterday, was now dragging him to random places. He felt bad, he didn't wish to stay for longer than a minute, but still, the ice mage couldn't find strength to leave.
Gray's thoughts came to an abruptly end, when Lucy finally decided to face him. The girl's face revealed concern, sadness and utter confusion.
"Why...?" She stopped, trying not to release the dangerous combination of feelings that were making her heart ache so much.
'Why?', the boy wondered. For many times, this question stormed his thoughts, in some cases, he was left without an answer. Before him stood one of the reasons for the excessive amount of doubts in his life.
"I don't understand." Gray finally managed to reply. His voice was soft, not being able to hide his weak side.
"Why are you making it so hard for me? I came after you... because..." The girl fought back the streaming tears on her face. Now was not the time to be hesitating, she needed to be firm.
"Because?" Gray replied with another question. He looked calm despite the situation he had in hand.
"Just tell me... what happened with us? When did we let this happen? We were getting along so well, and now!" Lucy sighed in a desperate way. "Look at us..." The girl hissed, slowing down her breathing. "We used to wake up together, spend the day together... go back home together." It was no longer possible to hold the anguish eroding her insides.
"Don't go talking like you're the victim." Gray suddenly rose his tone, grabbing the blonde by the wrist. Lucy whined in pain.
"Gray you're hurting me." The girl said trying to remove her hand from the boy's grip. The ice mage realized what he was doing, and let loose Lucy's wrist. He couldn't believe what he had just done, he really hurt her, to the point he left finger marks on the his friend's skin.
"I... I'm sorry." Said the boy looked down to the ground looking for his dignity. He hurt one of his dearest friends, and it felt horrible, it wasn't as pleasing as hurting Natsu.
"You know what?" Lucy took her companion's face in hand lifting it so he could face her. "I think we're better as friends." She smiled halfheartedly. Words wouldn't be able to describe the despair Gray felt as those words left his friend's lips. He instantly stiffed, the shock was great, but also expected, he just didn't know it would affect him so much.
"You're right. I won't complain..." Gray closed his eyes while sighing heavily. "But before you turn around and leave, could you please listen?" Lucy nodded looking somehow worried.
"I won't give you that overused speech about not wanting to lose you, and that at least we can still be friends... no..." The ice mage paused for a while, he felt his voice beginning to tremble, and as he forced it to sound firm, Lucy noticed how deep she was reaching his heart in that moment.
"I don't even know what to tell you right now. I feel like... nothing." Gray closed both his hands in tight fists never looking Lucy in the eye. His hair covered his eyes since he kept his stare to the floor.
"Whoever said men don't cry," the ice maker's vision became blurry with the tears starting to form in his eyes, "had never met love in his... miserable life." The boy finally allowed the two captive droplets to slide freely down his cheek. Lucy bit her lower lip trying to suppress her own tears.
"I can't blame him. If I knew how this was going to end, I wouldn't allow myself to fall for you either." Gray said, turning to leave, he wiped his tears with his hand trying to disguise his state. Lucy stood speechless as she saw her love abandoning her.
Pride, fear or anger, what made Lucy keep quiet about what was bothering her didn't matter at this point. Gray was gone, and it looked like getting back was becoming a distant reality.
Lucy maintained her composure, she was strong, she showed him she had the strength to do what she thought was right, as far as her pride allowed her to. As soon as Gray's figure was out of her eye sight, she dropped to her knees with her hands on her face, asking herself and whoever was willing to answer, what she had just done.
Back at the main field, Natsu and Gajeel headed for what seemed to be a final blow. They punched each other faces, making both of them fly backwards. The two mages stayed at the floor for a couple of seconds, before Gajeel started to move.
The audience was surprised, after all, they were used to see Natsu as the one who never loses, and never gives up, no matter how much he gets beaten, he will always stand up and fight. The happy started screaming Natsu's name hoping it would make the salamander rise again.
After Natsu slowly stood up, his body had almost no energy left to even stand. Gajeel was on his knees while his opponent kept rising to his feet. Now both of them were standing and facing each other, but moving was clearly impossible at this rate, none of them dared to take a single step, their remaining energy were spent in being awake.
"Give up salamander, you're done already." Gajeel said laughing between his deep breaths.
"Says the one who can't take another step." Natsu shot back, also breathing heavily.
A couple of minutes went by, before a loud thud could be heard meaning someone didn't have enough strength to go on, or at this rate, maybe physical endurance wasn't the differential. The one with higher spirit would be the victor.
The audience cheered, jumping and shouting, but someone in particular wasn't so satisfied with the results. From the corner of the grandstand, Levy watched a severely beaten Gajeel laying on the floor. The dragon slayer kept staring at the sky as he felt his senses abandoning him, before he feel unconscious.
"The winner is Natsu! Celestial Slayers may proceed to the next match, but before that, we need to know what team will make it to the finals." Mira lively said going lifting Natsu's arm as a symbol of his victory.
Natsu was all smiles with his triumph, and though for some times, the fire mage can be a slow when it comes to realizing the events around him, this time he couldn't help but notice. As everyone cheered for him, his eyes quickly scanned the place looking for the only one he desired. It was true that he won the fight, but he still felt like he lost it, seeing Levy helping Gajeel to stand, he almost wished he lost the fight. Gajeel had something he didn't, and it bothered him like nothing else.
Makarov announced the following match, that was between Juvia and Cana. The fight didn't last long, the water woman quickly got the upper hand and defeated the other competitor without major problems. As Juvia left the arena to switch with Gray, she couldn't help but notice the way her partner looked while walking towards the open area. The ice mage was expressionless, he didn't say anything as he walked past his friend, which made her worry even more.
Juvia walked past everyone to sit next to Lyon. "Did Juvia make Lyon-sama proud?" The water mage cheerfully asked, leaning to rest her head over Lyon's shoulder.
"You were perfect." Lyon replied placing a soft kiss on his soon to be girlfriend's lips. They sat comfortably nuzzling in each others arms, but got horrified with the show Gray was putting on the arena. The ice maker went in a berserker state, completely overwhelming Elfman. Gray didn't even use his ice magic, he just threw hard punches not really minding to aim them. When the match seemed to be over for Elfman, the take over mage held Gray's punch with a single hand, which obviously made everyone surprised.
"I won't fight you anymore", Gray's eyes got wide with Elfman's last words, the boy simply didn't understand why that body builder would say something like that to him.
Gray's expression went from surprise to anger. "Why not? Are you afraid? Come on fight me!" The ice mage kept punching, but his attacks didn't seem to affect Elfman at all.
"You're not fighting like a man. You're out of yourself, the Gray I know, would never throw himself in a careless style like this." Elfman finished before tossing the ice mage's arm aside and connecting a hard punch on his stomach. Gray knelt in pain.
"If you don't start fighting like a man, you better give up now!" Elfman got in fighting stance once again, but Gray kept fighting like a mad man, resulting in a humiliating defeat.
"And the winner iiiiiiiiiis, Elfman! With these results we'll have to decide it in a third fight, between Elfman and Juvia!" Mira informed.
Juvia walked down the grandstand to join Elfman for their battle.
"I won't go easy on you just because you're not a man." Juvia's opponent warned her. "Juvia doesn't need different treatment, look at Juvia as if she was a man." The water mage said after setting her feet on the arena.
"That sounds wrong in so many ways." Lyon mumbled to no one in particular. "Good luck , Juvia!" Recovered from the shock, the mage cheered.
Elfman tried his hardest, but couldn't avoid Juvia's fast water attacks. The girl waited for the fully transformed man at the other side of the field, to be completely exhausted, when she noticed he couldn't keep avoiding anymore, Juvia simply used water lock, making Elfman give up.
From the distance, Gray watched as Juvia defeated the one who put him through so much trouble. She made it look easy, it bothered him.
"Juvia is the victor, everyone!" Mira said repeating her actions from the last battles. "We'll take a ten minutes break for now, I bet you're all tired by now." The woman finished.
Each participant spent the break in its own way. Natsu searched for the slight sign of fire to refill his energy, since he already fought, Juvia went for a walk holding hands with Lyon, Lucy sat near the lake with her feet underwater and Gray rested his back on a tree far away from the main event.
While cursing his love life, Gray saw Juvia and Lyon passing by, and for a moment, the ice mage felt something odd, he couldn't really put a finger on it, some kind of jealousy, but not entirely, he wasn't sure about what to call it.
Lucy changed her mind from five to five minutes, she considered going to Gray, then thought he should be the one looking for her. She haven't decided who was wrong and who was right yet, but even then, it seemed to be late for this now.
The break was over, and the four remaining competitors made their way to the battle field. It was around five PM when they restarted their test, the sun was getting ready to set, meaning they had to hurry if they didn't want to fight in the dark.
"The first match will be between Natsu and Gray! I hope you're all ready, it's going to get hot here, or cold, who knows?" Mira introduced the next fight and left the main field. Natsu approached the arena, and so did Gray, they exchanged looks and waited for the signal to start.
They started fighting, and again, Gray seemed to be lost in thoughts, doing the first thing that crossed his mind, no plans, no holding back, just straight forward brawling.
Natsu easily dodged all the ice maker's attacks as if they were nothing. "Come on droopy-eyes, you can do better than that." The fire mage teased, earning a colder glare from the enraged Gray in front of him.
"What is Gray-kun doing? It's not usual for him to lose his cool like that." Juvia asked worried about her friend.
"I'm not sure, but something tells me we're very close to discover." Replied a rather jealous Lyon.
Natsu had the fight in hands, he could even guess Gray's next moves, the ice mage was fighting a lost battle. "I'm tired of playing with you Gray, Elfman was right, you're fighting like a girl!" The salamander exclaimed before preparing a dragon roar.
Is that it? Am I going to lose again? Gray thought as he saw the flames coming closer by the second. I didn't look like he had a plan to evade that attack, he just stood waiting for it... and it came. The massive amount of fire spit by Natsu collided with Gray's body.
"Is this your limit? I thought you came here to fight." Natsu let out a cocky grin, put both hands at the back of his head, and started waking away. The dust covered the view from the audience, but none of them had the slight doubt about the result, it was Natsu fighting, he never loses, right?
"Disappointing! I expected much more." A random member started what would soon become a ruckus about the previous battle. More joined him in his arguments, letting very clear their opinions about Gray's defeat.
Gray laid on the floor, but he was still conscious, he heard every word, he felt his blood boiling inside his veins, anger seemed to be the only thing moving the ice alchemist. The audience fell silence for a second after hearing a desperate blonde drawing all her courage in a single sentence.
"Stand up..." Gray barely heard the words, but couldn't believe them, his surprise was as great as the pain he felt. "Stand up." This time it was clear, still, no answer from the boy. "I said... Stand up!" Lucy rose, allowing every one to see whose voice was the one giving hope to the fallen fighter.
"Don't you dare to give up! I'll never forgive you if you do." The blonde shout from the grandstand already making her way to the first row, in order to have a better view and access to the arena.
Gray's eyes begged him to let them close, his muscles ached, but the worst part was the confusion taking place in his had. Lucy denied him, and suddenly starts cheering for him, it had to be a bad joke.
After hearing those words of motivation from the girl he supposedly loved, Natsu got furious, how much closer could they get? It looked like no matter how hard the dragon slayer tried, he would still be outmatched when the subject was Lucy's love, and this was making him lose control very fast.
"Why do you support droopy-eyes so much? I'm much stronger than him!" Natsu started walking towards an exhausted Gray with a reddish aura surrounding him, his eyes were once again resembling a dragon's, scales started to form on his arms and his hair went wild like dancing flames.
"Take over?" Asked Elfman in utter confusion. "I doubt, this seems to be the results of controlling those absorbed power from the spirit he fought at the celestial realm." Mira spoke in a worried tone for the first time, seeing how fearsome Natsu's face became.
The public loved the transformation, and wished for more fight. "Stop that!" Lucy ordered the lively mages, they all turned to look at her. "Are you all blind? Gray is in no condition to fight?" Lucy had a mad expression, she was suffering as much as her friend inside the main field, or maybe even more. "Could it be that you're all so selfish that you can't see that? The only thing you want is to see a fight, right? It doesn't matter if one of the sides is your friend and can't fight back." She somehow earned the attention from her guild mates, they were appalled for a while, thinking about their behavior, but their faces showed something else this time, it was named surprise.
After Gray recovered to the point he could keep standing, the fight continued, and nothing seemed to change, Natsu still had the overwhelming upper hand. The only thing between the fire mage and the S-Class title was his rival, but even the naïve Romeo did notice the fight had changed its values from titles to emotions.
As Gray dodged the attacks and got hit by some, Lucy let her thoughts flow through her mind. She went back to where she met Gray, and the horrible first impression he left, the missions they spent together, and how hurt he was when he found Deliora, the time when they changed bodies and the fear she felt when he tried to take off her clothes. All those memories seemed so fond, even when some of them were clearly annoying.
The blonde's mind traveled back to the future, and she saw the ice mage struggling to maintain himself awake, the only thing he could do was move away from the heated strikes directed at him. It was no longer possible to deny the fact that she wanted him to win the match, there was no comparison between reaching the top in her career as a mage, and keeping next to her the one she really loved.
Events of the week came back to her, as she remembered how it began. Just a kiss, just to prove she could make a boy feel different, but what happened back there? It was supposed to be a simple act, to satisfy her own ego, when did she become so involved? Lucy couldn't find an answer for any of her questions, the only thing the blonde knew was that she needed Gray, because she loved him, and the thought of going back to how they were before making her heart sick, like it would stop beating without any warning.
Looking back to the fight, she notice Gray barely managing to stay on his toes. "Don't give up..." Lucy's voice left ever so softly.
Gray caught the fading voice coming from the audience and turned to check if he wasn't hallucinating. "Do you really want me to win?" The boy asked in disbelief.
"Of... course I do." The blonde flushed very hard and looked to all directions but to the brunette staring at her, she was happy to catch his attention, but extremely embarrassed due to her early actions towards her friend.
Refusing to acknowledge Natsu's presence, Gray slowly walked to wards his motivator, he stopped in front of her not wasting any time to hold the girl in a loving embrace. Lucy felt her tense muscles starting to relax, she returned the hug, and nuzzled in the ice maker's neck. "I'm sorry." Gray felt her voice like a soft breeze, it was all he needed to hear.
Several different reactions were spotted, but one in particular was far more intense than all the others together... Natsu's.
Roaring flames surrounded the fire mage, not waiting for anyone's approval to continue the fight.
Lucy paste a soft kiss on Gray's lips before breaking the contact between them. "If you win the fight, you'll get another, a better one, it's a promise." Lucy spoke in a low tone, still feeling a little abashed.
Gray's eyes shone with happiness, making Lucy laugh a bit. "Go get him." She giggled softly. The girl's voice was converted to sweet disposition in the ice maker's ears.
Once Gray was finished turning around, Natsu was already in front of him, directing a punch loaded with a huge amount of fire at him.
"Master, don't you think this is going too far, the result is obvious." Mira talked to Makarov while Gray only managed to dodge the fire mage's attacks.
"You'll soon find out power is nothing without control, Natsu is a natural brawler, but Gray is a born observant, you'll see what I mean." Makarov finished his speech with a tender smile.
The audience had to be replace somewhere far from the arena due to the mass destruction being provoked by the enraged salamander. The grandstand was no more, and the whole area around the main field was devastated by fire, leaving behind only ashes.
"It's getting dangerous." Levy stated obviously to her blonde friend. "Yeah..." Lucy couldn't maintain her worries inside anymore, she retrieved Gray's will to fight, but now, she was worried about the consequences.
Natsu stopped, breathing heavily, the fire mage was having a hard time chasing his rival. "Fight me! Stop running around!" He shouted loud enough to make Gray's ear hurt.
"Is that really what you want?" A confident grin appeared in the ice alchemist's face. "You're gonna regret it soon." This time he had a rather menacing smile.
"Bring it!" Natsu did never seem so eager to fight, the fire mage was possessed by rage, there was no turning back now.
Gray had peaceful features on his face, the air around him began to change from extremely hot to refreshing cool, his eyes turned deep blue and his hair froze, becoming spiky, his arms had a set of ice spikes coming out of it. Lucy was a little nervous with the sudden change, but couldn't deny the excitement she felt with the ice maker's new looks.
On the other side of the arena, a equally surprised salamander shook his head dispelling unwanted thoughts from his mind. "Just because you got new looks it doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me." He spoke clearly affected by Gray's new appearance. Not bothering the dragon slayers last comment the ice creator started to move towards his enemy in a slow pace.
Natsu noticed Gray had a serene look, like he didn't have anything to fear, as if the battle was already decided, it angered the boy and made him dashed ahead to the decisive part. Natsu launched a straight forward attack as Gray predicted.
As long as he doesn't move his hands, I have nothing to worry about. Natsu thought as he remembered how his rival's magic worked. "Here I go!" The fire mage jumped high and started decaying like a meteor. Gray didn't seem to mind Natsu's attack falling upon him, which made Lucy worried sick. The girl watched with concern, that magic looked painful why wouldn't Gray move out of its reach.
A quick glance back to the ice mage cleared all Lucy's doubts. Gray's lips curved to a small smile. "I got you." The boy spoke before the wild flames vanished from Natsu's surroundings. "What?" Was all Natsu managed to say before he started to feel the could air beginning to fill his lungs.
"Sugoi! The cold air was enough to extinguish Natsu's fire." Juvia commented, making Lyon feel jealous in the process.
"I do things like this all the time, Juvia-san." The boy retorted, trying to sound natural.
The dragon slayer fell with a kick, since his last attack failed. "Don't underestimate me, droopy-eyes!" The salamander spoke after connecting the strike. He took impulse from Gray's head doing a flip in the air and landing behind his opponent.
"Humph!" Natsu wiped his hands confident in his triumph.
"Oi! Do you plan to fight me backwards?" Gray spoke teasingly much to Natsu's despair. "You were supposed to be laying on the floor!" Natsu shouted with big eyes while pointing a finger to his friend.
"You were supposed to be fighting instead of joking around." Gray replied condly.
"Nani?" Natsu clenched his hands in fists. "You're going down!" He rushed with a battle cry, preparing another attack.
"Looks like Gray has gotten into trouble now." Erza calmly stated.
"It's better to save these comments for later." Jellal answered equally calm.
Natsu started throwing punches at the ice maker with amazing speed and force, his arms moved so firmly that the he pushed the air with each strike. Gray started countering and defending some of the punches.
"I see now!" The fire mage spotted an entrance in Gray's guard, aiming at it, he threw a kick and seemed to catch the ice alchemist unprepared. "Take that!" The kick connected, but Gray didn't move. Natsu couldn't believe his eyes, as right in front of him, a small but thick ice layer appeared out of nowhere to prevent the strike from successfully reach Gray.
"How the hell did you do that?" Natsu was out of control, his breathing was accelerated, his arms moved on its own, he continuously punched, just to have several pieces of hard ice blocking his way. No matter how much he tried, the material appeared in an amazing speed.
"Are you done playing with my new defense. You'll have to be faster than that." Gray spoke with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Temee! Don't you just stand there like you are unreachable, fight me!" The dragon slayer challenged, but it wasn't very effective.
"Baka! If you want it that much." Gray walked towards the ice mage freezing everything around him in his way. Spikes of ice rose from the floor, but Natsu easily avoided them, then ice darts appeared around Gray all pointed to his friend. The boy threw them all at once, Natsu rolled out of their way. "Don't tell me this is all you've got." The salamander teased. "Watch your step." Gray warned a bit too late. The floor became slippery with ice, making the fire mage fall on his back, with a huge ice stone already above his head, ready to fall.
"Natsu isn't a fast thinker, and Gray isn't giving him any time to think either. Do you think this is over?" Erza asked nonchalantly.
"We just need to wait." Jellal answered.
The ice stone fell, but was destroyed by rising flames. "Enough! You'll see what real power is now!" Natsu used his flames as a boost to launch himself over Gray, the ice wasn't able to match the speed this time, resulting in a headbutt straight to Gray's stomach. The cocky smile disappeared from the ice mage's face as he knelt in pain, the next thing he saw was Natsu's foot colliding against his chin. He felt his body being tossed from side to side as Natsu moved in great speed, before the ice maker could land anywhere, there was already another strike being directed at him. Natsu finished his sequence of fast punches with several hooks alternating between the left and the right hand on his friends stomach, the last one being on his chin, which made him fall motionless to the floor.
"See? I... told you... I'd win!" Natsu panted as he tried to recover his breath.
"I'm sorry, but I won't lose this easily." Said Gray still facing the floor.
"He endured all those punches. That's something to be considered, but he can't win now." Lyon said before sighing.
"Juvia believe Gray-kun can make it." The water mage said happily.
"Why are you cheering for him?" Lyon asked dumbstruck, fear beginning to take over his heart. Unfortunately. This question was left unanswered.
Gray stood once again, only this time, he had a more serious look. "Guess I underestimated you. It won't happen again." The boy closed his hand tightly besides his waist.
Natsu didn't wate any time thinking, and launched another set of punches, and once again, all of them collided. The audience was already singing Natsu's name, it looked like Gray wouldn't last long. Lucy kept gazing intensely, but despite her concentration, she wasn't worried, she was sure the ice alchemist knew exactly what he was doing.
With the guild cheering for him, Natsu kept hitting Gray, or what he believed to be Gray. A crack started to form on the ice maker's head, which caused the attacking boy to wonder if he hit his rival this hard. The fissure became larger, reaching the chest, and finally breaking the figure in little pieces.
"Behind you!" Someone warned the fire mage. He looked around to find Gray standing still at the other side of the arena.
"When did you?" The boy asked in confusion.
Spikes appeared horizontally around Gray, they floated and moved in a spiral motion. He decided to do the attacking this time, and moved to confront Natsu, his speed wasn't even close to match the fire mage's. "Don't make me laugh! You can't hit me with these. I'm faster!" Believing his overwhelming agility would be enough to avoid the spikes, Natsu headed towards Gray for a close combat style. It was then that Gray started sliding all his way to the salamander, which obviously made his speed increase considerably, ruining his opponent's timing. Ice floor? When did he? Natsu wondered, but the only thing he could do was roll past Gray avoiding a single punch. "You missed!" The fire mage said almost teasingly. "Are you sure?" The ice creator did a spin in his ice, turning to look at the sliding Natsu. The dragon slayer moved backwards since he turned to face his rival.
Before another word could leave Natsu's lousy mouth, he felt his back hitting something very hard. "Ouch!" The boy whined. He didn't need to turn around to realize it was an ice wall, and a huge one.
Gray watched as the structure behind Natsu started to fall over the fire mage. With quick reflexes, Natsu was able to escape in the last second.
"You fell for it." The broken wall expanded, reaching Natsu's feet, and freezing them on the floor. "I'll simply melt the ice." Natsu looked down to free himself from the ice prison, when the sound of the guild cheering became louder, and Mira started talking.
"The winner of this match is..." Natsu didn't understand what in the world was happening, he did send a large pack of devastating blows towards the ice mage, but his opponent was still standing, wasn't him?
That's it, it had to be it, Natsu's lips converted into a smile, he just knew what had just happened, Gray fell to the floor, and they immediately stopped the match.
Natsu slowly lifted his head to see the S-Class title within his grasp, but...
"Gray!" Mira spoke in a loud voice, sending shivers down the salamander's spine.
What he saw was Gray's arms with blades coming out of them, pointed directly at the dragon slayer's face.
The pink-haired boy didn't want to believe what he saw. He lost, and in front of Lucy, in front of the whole guild. It was in fact a shock to the boy, but not only to him, to the other mages too, they saw Natsu surpassing every obstacle, like he was some kind of perfect hero, always finding a way to overcome the odds, even when they were all against him, something, or someone had always given the salamander the needed strength to continue. However, this time things were different.
Gray managed to beat his rival, and he didn't need to eat ice, or any other unusual kind of fuel, he didn't need to borrow Laxus' power to be able to fight, he had always relied on his own abilities, and for some times, they weren't enough, but that's just normal.
No one can always win, Natsu should know that by now.
The mages slowly started to approach the place where the two were fighting. "I have an important announcement to do." Mira informed.
"We already decided who is going to be S-Class. There is no need for another fight." The woman walked among the participants, carefully scanning each of them.
They all fell silence waiting for a response, the master was going too far with the suspense, they didn't deserve to be tortured like that. Hearts racing, muscles aching, minds traveling and eyes focused on the little old man and his companion.
"The two mages selected to be S-Class mages are...", Mira said in a singing tone. "Not here." She concluded much to everyone's horror.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?"
Another ruckus started with a lot of disappointment from the competitors, but also from the audience.
"Enough!" Makarov shouted. The man was little, but was still authority inside fairy tail, and his word was the last one. Silence became absolute until Makarov spoke again.
"I saw the power of a S-Class here, but it's the attitude of the S-Class that you're all missing." The master said in a serious tone.
"You think being a S-Class is all about having fearsome magic? You'll have to handle new responsibilities, new missions, everything will be different. That's why, none of you passed." One could say there was nothing to complain about in their current situation, but it would be a miserable lie. Everyone was caught off guard, it hurt them, still, they had to admit that the master was right.
Lucy desperately searched for Gray, she had so much to tell him, and it had to be now.
"Looking for me." Gray called the girl's attention as she walked past him without even noticing the him.
"Gray... I'm..." The ice mage covered her mouth with his. Lucy melt in the embrace, she didn't bother hiding from anyone anymore, she just wanted to be loved and love, and from now on, if it bothered anyone, they would have to deal with it.
"I love you." Gray finally spoke the words his friend waited so long to hear.
"I love you too." Lucy said crying once again, only this time, they were tears of happiness, she would stay with Gray, she would stay with him no matter what.
And like this Gray and Lucy's last day together came to an end, or so they thought.
Fin
I'm sorry for the late update, please forgive me u.u
I hope you had fun reading this chapter. Sorry for the spelling mistakes, and if anyone notices something out of place, please let me know, I spent a lot of time writing this one, so things might be messed up.
I'll see you guys later :)