Chapter 2: Training

When Natsu and Lucy returned to the camp, the others were already waiting for them, roused from sleep from the second explosion.

"What happened, Natsu, Lucy?" Erza asked.

"Lucy was attacked by some thugs but she beat them into a pulp. When I arrived at her location she told me what happened but then the leader of those thugs appeared and we attacked him with our roars, which most likely caused the explosion that woke you up." Natsu said with his signature toothy grin.

"Lucy did- WHAT?" the others exclaimed. "That's amazing, Lucy!"

Lucy blushed when the others congratulated Lucy for her victory.

"Thanks, minna." she said. "I was lucky, nothing more. If my memories about my lectures with Ithildin hadn't come back in the right moment..."

"Hey, don't let something like this bother you, Luce." Natsu said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You beat them up before anything happened and that counts. If anything then I am sorry because I wasn't there to protect you."

Lucy blushed at the close contact but quickly hugged her friend when he started blaming himself.

"Stop it, Natsu. It's not your fault that I was attacked. I wanted some time alone and didn't think about any consequences. But these powers... it's something I need to get used to."

"Maybe we can arrange a little fight tomorrow, Lucy." Gray said, curious about her new self. "I want to know how your starlight holds up against my ice."

"I'd love to, Gray." Lucy said, giving the Ice mage a small smile.

Behind a tree, a blue-haired woman was gripping the bark of the tree with such force that it started to break.

"Love Rival..."

"Time to go back to sleep. We need to be refreshed tomorrow." Erza said, already halfway inside.

"But, Erza..." Natsu complained.

"Are you trying to object, Natsu?" Erza said, a dark aura surrounding her.

"AHHH! NO! No! Not at all..."

"Good, now go back to your room!"

"AYE! Scary..."

"Come on, Lu-chan." Levy said, You have to tell us what happened exactly."

"Okay, Levy-chan. Good night, minna! Good night, Natsu! And thank you for your help today."

"No problem, Luce! Good night!"

At the next morning, Lucy and Gray were getting ready for their training fight. They decided to fight at the beach and part of the ocean.

"Okay, your ready, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"I'm ready Gray." the blonde Dragon Slayer replied.

"Lady's first. Show me what you've got."

"Don't regret that later, popsicle." Lucy said with a smirk. "Seishinryu no Hoko(Star Dragon's Roar)!"

"Ice Make - Shield!" Gray shot and created a shield in front of him to stop Lucy's roar. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the bright stream of starlight cracking trough his shield. He jumped to the side and released the shield, letting it explode. He turned around to Lucy and fired a counterattack.

"Ice Make - Lance!" he shouted, creating a dozen frozen lances and fired them towards Lucy.

Lucy saw the frozen projectiles coming her way and jumped into the air to avoid them. She saw Gray right beneath her and began to move her arms in a circular motion before she came crashing down on the ice mage.

"Seishinryu no Yokugeki(Star Dragon's Wing Attack)!"

Gray blocked the oncoming attack with another shield and jumped back to get some distance between them.

"Phew! You're damn good, Lucy. I think I need to get serious." he said with a smirk. "Hyojin: Nanarenbu(Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance)!"

Natsu watched concerned from the sidelines, knowing that Lucy doesn't' have enough time to avoid that incoming attack.

"Got you!" Gray shouted.

"Seishinryu no Uroko(Star Dragon's Scales)!" Lucy crossed her arms in front of her, golden scales appearing on her body. Gray's attack hit her head-on but she smirked as the ice blades shattered on impact with her scales.

"What?"

"Don't underestimate the scales of a dragon! Seishinryu no Teka-ru ken(Star Dragon's Shining Fist)!" Her fist was surrounded with a bright white light before it collided with Gray's face, sending him flying into a tree.

"Nice one, Luce!" Natsu grinned. "Couldn't have done it better."

"Uhhh." Gray groaned from his position under the now fallen tree. He got up and grinned. "Nice punch, Lucy. But I think it's time to end this!"

"I agree."

"Ice-Make Unlimited: One Sided Chaotic Dance!" Gray shouted, creating a massive spiral with swords prodding out from one side.

"Seishinryu no Hoko(Star Dragon's Roar)!" Lucy shot, releasing the devastating beam of starlight from her mouth.

The beam shot forward and burst easily through Gray's attack. He tried to avoid the beam, but it was to broad and he was sent flying again, this time into the ocean. Lucy fell down to her knees, panting heavily but the was smiling happily. Natsu immediately ran over to her, hugging her.

"That was amazing, Luce!" he said, giving her his signature grin. "Good to know that someone besides me knows how to teach that Popsicle a lesson."

"Yeah... that was...great..." the blonde choked out before she went unconscious.

"Luce!"

"It's okay, Natsu-san. Wendy said, who ran towards them as soon as she saw Lucy loosing her consciousness. "She's exhausted but she's fine. She just needs some sleep."

"Arigato, Wendy. I take her inside. You guys continue training. We'll join as soon as Lucy feels better." With that, Natsu picked Lucy up bridal-style and walked her inside. He put her down on her mattress and sat himself down beside her, watching over her.

'Damn, Luce. The way you fought that damn popsicle... You're just amazing.'

He leaned down to her and moved a loose strand of hair behind her ear, watching her peaceful expression while she slept. He moved behind her and hugged her from behind so she was resting between his legs. Her head was resting against his chest and so he drifted away to the lands of dreams.

Unnoticed by him, a certain blue-haired Dragon Slayer closed the door quietly behind her. She wanted to check on Lucy but when she saw the loving moment between the two she stayed silent and walked back outside.

"Wendy? Back already?" Gray asked.

"Yes. I wanted to check on Lucy-chan but she and Natsu are sleeping."

"What? Flame-head? Don't tell me...?"

"Yes." Wendy laughed. "He is hugging her from behind and they both are sleeping."

"Man... I never thought that dense ash-for-brains would know how to go after a girl. Ah, whatever. Let's go back to training" the Ice Mage said as he got up.

It was already noon when Natsu and Lucy woke up from their sleep. Lucy blushed furiously as she noticed their position while Natsu gave her his signature grin. They walked outside and joined the others. Natsu decided to do a little running exercise while Lucy sat down of the beach and called one of her spirits, Capricorn, to help her mediate to increase her magic power. Despite her Dragon Slayer Magic being unlocked, she was still a stellar mage. Erza was practicing her swordsman skills and Wendy was busy reading the book Porlyusica gave her, getting a little help from Levy and her Gale-Force Reading Glasses. They trained until the late afternoon, when Erza called a break. They sat down at the beach and pulled out some snacks, simply enjoying their 3 months training vacation.

"The training goes well." Gray noted.

"Yeah. We're coming around pretty good." Erza nodded as she ate a bite from the entire strawberry cake she brought with her.

"I still can't believe that you beat me up that easily, Lucy. I seriously need to get used to this."

"That's because you ain't good for shit, droopy eyes." Natsu commented.

"What did you call me, squinty eyes?" Gray asked, rising to his feet.

"You understood, popsicle."

"Your on, flame head."

Unfortunately for them, they crashed into Erza as soon as they started fighting, knocking her still half-full plate of strawberry cake into the sand. A dark, demonic aura was surrounding Erza and everyone tried to get into cover quick.

"NATSU! GRAY! YOU ARE DEAD!"

"Wait, Erza! We're sorry, please forgive us!" Natsu whined as he and Gray tried to get away from the furious Requip Mage.

"I DON'T CARE! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" Titania was just reaching a scared looking Gray as a pigeon sat down on her head, stopping her rampage. The now confused red-head grabbed the bird gently and put it down from her head, noticing a little note tied to it's leg.

"What is it, Erza-san?" Wendy asked.

"It's a small letter, barely more then a note... 'To Fairy Tail, Come to the suspension bridge deep in the western woods.'"

"Should we go?"

"If it's a trap... Well, I think with three Dragon Slayers we will be able to fight back." Erza said. "Any objections? No? Then it's decided."

They walked up to the hills and into the forest, following a small winding path down to a deep canyon. As soon as they arrived at the broken bridge which let over the gap, said bridge started to rebuild itself.

"This must me our invitation." Erza stated.

"This might be a trap after all..."

"I'm getting scared..."

They crossed the canyon and followed the path further into the forest when Natsu, Wendy and Lucy noticed a presence behind the trees because of their enhanced senses.

"Someone's here." Lucy said.

They walked around the next corner, ready for battle, only to come face to face with three hooded persons.

"Thank you for coming. Fairy Tail." the leader, a young man, said as they began to remove their hoods. Theirs eyes widened as they recognized them, but Erza was seemingly shocked as she recognized the unique red tattoo on the mans face.

"Jellal..."

-:-

Finish!
A little bit shorter than the first chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer! I just felt like this was a good end for a chapter ;)
I really hope you enjoyed the battle scene because it's the first one I ever wrote so it would be really cool if you could get me reviews for this scene.

As always, please follow, favourite and review (especially the battle scene!)

Until then,

Slayer-kun