"Festival! The Harvest Festival's coming up!"
"Shut up already, Flame Brain, we can hear you from across the entire guild." Gray scowled, crossing his arms as he leaned his back against the wall half-naked again, his rival tensing up from the snarky comment. Ava had long since given up to try to remind the boy of his stripping habits. "I think everyone already realizes that." It was true: the whole guild was in a frenzy as they prepared for some of the events like the Miss Fairy Tail contest and the Fantasia Parade, and the Harvest Festival was probably on everyone's minds.
Ignoring his rival's snarky comment, the fiery pink-haired boy turned to his younger teammate, the fifteen year old girl blinking confusedly as he talked rapidly to her. "Oi, Ava, what are you most excited for? I can't wait till the Parade! The lights are always cool, and the guild always does something fancy for the finale, and they sell all kinds of cool treats before then!"
"The Fantasia Parade? Well...it's nice, but I think I like the fireworks best." The black haired girl hummed thoughtfully as she gave Natsu's pouting face a cursory glance before turning away almost haughtily. "Besides, we have it every year. Why are you so excited about it?" Unconsciously, her amber eyes moved to look at Gray before reverting to Natsu.
"Is there any reason not to be excited for it? It's because it's awesome!"
"There's always next year…" She pointed out dully.
"But you'd still be missing out on a year!"
"Gray, help me." She sent a pleading look towards the Ice Make Mage, to which he sighed, shoulders slumping as he stood up straight and away from the wall. "Flame Brain, stop spreading your idioticness to your teammates, especially your younger ones. Ava's already reckless. We don't need another idiot on the team."
"Hey!" Both addressed mages immediately protested.
"All of you are being stubborn idiots," Erza corrected sternly as she sighed. "Now, what am I ever going to do with the three of you?"
"You just need someone sane on the team. Someone to bring reason." Ava hummed, her eyes somewhere far away. "But don't worry about that right now. I'm sure when the time comes, we'll have a teammate who will fulfill that spot."
"Ava, let's go on a mission without those two!" Natsu huffed, grabbing her arm and pulling her off the bar's stool as her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she gave him a surprised look, the Dragon Slayer refusing to meet her gaze as he dragged her to the mission board, unhearing of her protests as he selected a random mission and stomped back to the bar, slamming the paper in front of Mira and growling, "We'll take this."
"Just hurry back before the festival." Mirajane watched her guild mate curiously, her eyes flickering between the girl he was dragging around and himself before she suddenly began to sparkle, a very bad sign that usually meant she would create a new matchmaking scheme. "How about you two take this mission inste-"
"No," Gray and Ava deadpanned at the same time, Natsu instead looking at the request curiously before scowling. "That looks too boring!"
It was a request for two people to act as a couple and scout down a guy who's wife thought he was cheating on her and meeting with an affair at some expensive nightclub. Ava visibly twitched at the thought of posing as Natsu's girlfriend (the boy always was more like her brother-or maybe that was Gray), instead looking at the mission the pink-haired boy picked out.
It was a fairly simple, straight to the point mission. They would act as bodyguards for some wealthy noble's daughter while she journeyed to meet her fiance halfway across Fiore. Apparently the noble was pretty high up and made a lot of enemies, so he wanted his daughter to be safe during her journey.
"Natsu, you do realize that most likely they'll travel by carriage or train...right?" Ava asked cautiously, her eyebrows raised as she thought of the Fire-User's disposition on moving vehicles. "Are you sure you won't get motion sickness?" She shouldn't have said that, she realized as the boy's eyes lit up at the challenge.
"I won't!"
"Will."
"Won't!"
"Will."
"Won't!" Looking at her emotionless face, he huffed and crossed his arms around his chest as he shook his head. "You're just scared, aren't you?" He brightened at the notion, leaning close to Ava while giving her a knowing grin, elbowing her in the ribs. "Don't worry, Ava, I can protect you."
"Shut up." She swiped her leg at him, but he moved to the left and dodged easily, yet another reminder that she was the youngest and probably weakest on the team. She scowled. Natsu had already insulted her pride once, and if he dared do it again she'd-
"Ava's our princess, and we're her knights in shining armor~" Natsu sang, eyes bright as he knew it would rile the girl up for a fight. "We'll always come and save the day!" She'd probably blink for a moment confusedly before turning all red and challenging him to a duel, and that fiery look in her eyes that only happened when he challenged her would be present. But instead of the expected reaction, Ava's eyes turned cold as her hands trembled before she slapped him across the face.
…
…
…
Both figures stood there for a long moment that seemed to last for eternity before they simultaneously turned away, Ava stomping out of the guild, completely furious, while Natsu slammed his fist against the bar's counter, eyes narrowed and face pulled downwards, barely registering his team's various comments of disapproval.
...
...
...
"Stupid Natsu..." The black-haired girl sighed, her anger slowly disappearing and being replaced with something that felt akin to guilt as she recalled her teammate's shocked face as he cradled his wounded cheek, eyes betraying him as he stared at her. It was true that he hadn't meant anything when he had jested, but the words he spoke had hit a sensitive spot.
Ava wasn't useful. She was usually the person who was assigned to watch for enemies or protect the client whenever they were on missions together as a team. Natsu would run and face the enemies head on, Erza would re-equip and scare the shit out of everyone, Gray would sigh but direct them before creating a new weapon out of ice. Even Happy could be more helpful than her sometimes. After all, what good was a mage who could do nothing but use borrowed magic?
A lot, Gray had told her when she had confided in him about her insecurities. He had told her that there would be a day when they would need the magic that she would seal. That they would need her help. And even if not, she was still helping them (at that she snorted incredulously) just by being part of their team.
After the...events that had happened in her past, her only resolve she had was to grow stronger. True, she had managed to join Fairy Tail, the number one guild in Fiore. But what did that really amount up to?
She swallowed dryly, rubbing the back of her head as she walked lost in thought. She'd apologize to Natsu when she would return to the guild. But her feet kept her moving in a different direction, towards the riverbank, and somehow she knew that her teammate would be there. That was, after all, the place they had met.
And indeed he was. Amongst the tall green grasses, swaying in the autumn breeze, trickling sounds of the river, and slight sounds of civilization around them, was Natsu. The scantily-dressed boy was sitting cross-legged, his head propped forward with his hands as he leaned towards the river, seemingly lost in thought.
"And here I thought you would be beating up by Erza by now." The statement slipped out of her lips, and she saw the pinkette's obsidian eyes brighten just a bit by the peace-treaty, but he refused to turn around and look at her. Sighing, she slung her polyester bag over her shoulder and set it down in the grass, plopping on to the ground and sitting cross-legged just like her companion. "I'm sorry about before." Seeing as her elder was not replying, she quickly added, a little guilt trickling into her voice, "I was just a little pissed off. You know how I get about gaining power."
"You're perfectly fine the way you are." That statement made Ava look up, and she couldn't help the smile that was threatening to come up to her lips as she whispered a silent thank you.
"I've learned that in this world, to survive, to protect...you need to have power. Power, as in status. Power, as in courage. Power, as in the power to change the world." Her eyes turned distant for just a moment as she relived memories of the past. She was not naive enough to think that she was fully correct. Oh, no...she had learned her lesson too well that she was not the wisest person in the world, nor the most experienced. But power...oh, the power she had yearned for was not something so easily attained.
"Well, then…" Natsu turned to face her, his grin extending from one side of his face to the other as determination shone through his eyes and seemed to course through his very being as he gave her a non-too-subtle thumbs up. "We'll just have to gain that power together!"
A smile touched her lips. "Yeah. Thanks, Natsu."
Suddenly feeling the tense atmosphere, the pink-haired mage cleared his throat and adjusted his white scarf, standing up and pumping his fist. "Now, how about that mission? I bet ya' we can finish it in 3 days."
She let out a soft exhale before standing up herself, letting her eyes rest on the river as she spoke. "2 days."
"What?"
A smirk touched her lips as she turned around to look at him, giving him a competitive look as she held up the number two with her left hand, her other hand positioned on her hip as she spoke boldly, "We can totally finish it in 2 days."
"You're on!"
(Looking back, the mission was an escort mission, and they had finally arrived at their destination after a week of complaining-courtesy of Natsu-and exasperation from Ava. They had barely managed to make it to the Festival on time.)
"Our newest mission." Hibiki's hand set down a slightly yellowed and tattered paper before the group, his eyes calculating as he stared at the request. "I believe it will suit our talents quite well." Curious, the other groups members looked over the paper, Ava leaning slightly over the table to read it as Ren leaned on his tanned hand as his eyes moved while he read it. Eve was the one to take action, however, and asked, "What is it?"
"Ava will be posing as a daughter of a wealthy noble and Eve as her fiance." Seeing his group's indignant faces he held up a hand and shook his head. "I will get to that. Basically a casino's cheated our client and several others more than 500 million Jewels each, and they want us to go there undercover to reveal their treachery. This casino only accepts the richest of the richest however, which is why we'll need to act with great finesse. I'm afraid that people might recognize Ren and I, but Ava's a fairly new member and Eve's probably the least recognizable of our group. Ren, Ichiya, and I will also be undercover and tracking you two. Understood?"
"I don't like this," Ava said warily, pressing her finger against her temple as she rubbed her forehead and sighed. "But I suppose we can do it."
"Are you any good at gambling, Ava? Eve?"
"Dammit! She won again! Avaaaaa, this is so unfair~"
She smiled crookedly. "I suppose I'm sufficient."
"Good. Our client's providing us with 200 million Jewels each to test out each of the games there. We'll head over there by train, tomorrow night. In the meanwhile, both of you go out and buy the fanciest clothes you want." Hibiki nodded. "I'll confirm with the client."
"Alright." Eve stood up, turning around, his cerulean eyes lighted up with excitement as he looked at Ava. "Come on, nee-chan, let's go!"
"Fine, fine." Ava also stood up, her bracelets clinking slightly as they hit each other from the sudden movement as her expression suddenly brightened before turning a 180 as a devilish grin crossed over her face as she smirked at her teammates. "Ready to go shopping?"
O_O
After 6 hours of shopping, a lot of complaining from the boys (to which Ava replied they shouldn't have given her full use of their money), and a handful of arguments later, their small (but close knit, she had to admit) team was sitting exhausted on one of the park benches, each person holding at least 3 bags of clothes.
"Ava-chan, did you have to buy so...much?" Hibiki groaned. Ichiya had escaped earlier, giving some excuse of smelling the perfume of someone like him near (and Ava hoped very much that there wasn't anyone else in Earthland that was like Ichiya: one of them was enough), and therefore they had to carry even more bags. He massaged his sore shoulders as he set down the bags near his feet, leaning back on the wooden bench as he turned to the only female member of their group.
"What did I tell you? Never bring a female out shopping." Her mouth twitched. Especially Erza. The thought disturbed her for a moment because she thought she had forgotten about them already, and she quickly pushed it away. But Ava knew... She knew that she was just running away from her past. That in a way, she was just using this team to fulfill her own desires: of forgetting the past, drowning it out with new memories. All the Fairy Tail members had their own way of coping, whether it be quit the guild or develop some new habit like drinking, and hers happened to be quite literally moving away. But...her gaze turned to her teammates, and it softened a little. She liked to believe that she was with her team because she loved them as well. She sighed and rolled her head, leaning on Ren's shoulder, the black-haired boy's body nearly jumping at the sudden contact. "I'm tired." She murmured. From what, she didn't really know.
"Oi, we were the ones holding most of the bags." Ren scowled, poking her forehead with his finger accusingly, her eyes narrowing at the motion as she tilted her head to the right angle so she could look at him straight in the eye.
"There is a thing called chivalry, my dear Ren." She tsked. "Now, how will you ever get a girlfriend if you can't even carry her shopping bags?"
"Don't want one." He looked almost thoughtful for a moment before his face contorted into a scowl again as he flipped his hair in a gesture towards his petite blonde teammate. "How come Eve doesn't have to carry as much as us?"
"Because I'm cute, right nee-chan?" He peered over at her with hopeful eyes.
"That's right." She ruffled his hair fondly, the action not at all unfamiliar. Even though Eve was technically the same age as her and could display maturity when he wanted to, she felt like she had gained a little brother she'd never thought she wanted until then. "Ren, don't be so mean to your teammates. You know, if you keep on scowling like that, that expression will be stuck on your face. That's what my mother always used to tell me at least."
"You're the one who's been bossing us around!"
"Now, now, children…" Hibiki tried to placate his friend, but Ren whirled around at him, his eyes narrowed and fists clenched as Hibiki almost flinched.
"I'm not a child!"
"Are you sure about that?" Ava threw out carelessly, her black hair slightly covering the left side of her face as she leered at him, the petty side of her coming out as it used to. "Because all I see right now is a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum." She blinked for a moment, surprised at the sudden but familiar action. It had been a long time since she had last done something like this. To her left, Eve nodded as he shot an almost victorious smirk at Ren before his face reverted back to his childish cuteness as Ava turned around inquisitively to see at what Ren was glaring at. This only served to further provoke the tanned-boy, and he glared at Eve even more, mouthing words that surely meant the blonde's death behind his female teammate's back..
Hibiki sighed and plugged his nose. "This team still needs a lot of work…"
The next day, Ava and Eve were standing next to each other, shoulders barely touching, as their hands gripped onto their suitcases filled with expensive clothing, perfume, and money. Both were completely beautified: Hibiki had taken charge of putting make-up on them while Ren chose for them the most extravagant outfits possible. It was thus that Ava found herself scowling at the tight maroon dress that was clinging to her waist quite tightly as she tried to move her legs without much avail. Eve was having less of a problem in his white suit and white dress pants, his golden hair slicked back with gel into an unrecognizable hairdo for the boy as he adjusted his fake glasses. They had taken precautions to make sure that the team would not be recognized during their mission, which was why Ava was rubbing at her fake chocolate-brown contacts irritatedly.
"These are so impractical…" She adjusted the black satin sash around her waist so it wouldn't trail behind her while she walked. "It fits the cover, but still."
"Alright you two, remember that Ava is Miss Evangeline Lithers and her fiance is Evan Winters. You two are attending this town for a honeymoon and heard that the casino there is the best one in Fiore. You have not heard the rumors of them cheating their clients, and will happily oblige to play numerous games many times. You will get close to the casino's owner and catch him. Got it?" Hibiki gave them an inquisitive glance as he moved his brown wig to the right a little more. "Ren and I are your bodyguards. Ichiya-san is here for an interview, which is why he is in town right now. The famous Trimens are all back at Blue Pegasus's guild."
"Understood."
The two walked inside the casino, and Ava was pleasantly surprised to see that it had defied her expectations. What she was expecting was something akin to a cheap casino that was so obviously cheating its customers, although she should have knew that considering its wide reputation it would have been better. Crystal chandeliers hung from the walls as several tapestries of gold and silver linings hung on the walls. The floor they were standing on must have been made of something that seemed like pure glass, and below them Ava could make out several glowing lacrimas and more gambling machines beneath them. A few lacrimas of all colors floated by her, and her eyes were dazzled by multiple lights as various well-dressed people sat either in card games of with the machines. There were waterfalls to her left, where several comfortable and expensive-looking satin chairs were stationed. Various floral designs that were as tall as her or even taller decorated the (already) decorative casino.
"Wow…" Eve couldn't help but murmur, and Ava nodded her head in silence, a little too stunned to think. Being a member of one of or maybe the handsomest group of mages, the Trimens, they both had obviously lived in luxury before. Even so…
"Ah, mademoiselle, monsieur, comment allez-vous? How do you do?" A sudden voice startled them out of their thoughts as they turned to see a rather short man dressed in a black tuxedo giving them a cordial look. "I am the owner of this casino, Jean-Claude Niel. How may I help you two today?"
Stay calm. Think. Would what Mia do? Ava let out a small exhale as she tilted her head and tittered, the motion slightly startling Eve as she assumed a professional, but nonetheless haughty voice that most of her richer clients always spoke in. "Ah, a pleasure to meet you, sir. I am Evangeline Lithers and this is Evan Winters, my newly-made husband. We've come to town for our honeymoon, you see, and we heard through the grapevine this casino is quite a nice place to attend." She waved a nonchalant hand towards Hibiki and Ren, who were now also disguised and standing a few feet behind them. "Our bodyguards, for precautions. Don't mind them."
"Indeed, indeed, madmemoiselle, I am sure you will find the casino to your liking." The man's eyes darted almost...nervously as he refused to meet Ava's eyes, looking back at the pair of 'bodyguards' every once in a while. "Well, if you excuse me, I must...ah, g-go greet the other guests. Have a fun time, Mademoiselle Lithers and Monsieur Winters."
"Thank you!" Ava called after him as he scurried away, a smirk playing at her lips as she turned to Eve brightly. "Oh, Evan, shall we go and try out their games?"
"Of course, n-darling." She had to say that Eve played the part well, even though he had almost slipped up thanks to his usual habits. His back was completely straight as he stood tall (or at least as tall as his petite frame allowed him, thank God Hibiki had taken precautions and picked some of the higher raised shoes-Eve had refused to call them heels), linking arms with Ava and leading her to one of the poker tables as they sat down with grace.
As he watched with amazement as his female teammate after only a few rounds of gameplay laid down her cards and gave the tender a triumphant smile as everyone around them looked at the pair, stupefied, Eve sighed and felt like this would be a long night.
"...and then when the owner found out that we were actually winning, a lot, he totally got red in the face and began stomping over to us and started yelling frantically at us. Then Hibiki got all professional and held up a tape of the owner stealing money from some of the people who were at the casino, so all the clients got really angry and they almost mobbed the owner had it not been for Hibiki's calming words. We got things sorted out and they called the Rune Knights, but not before Eve accidentally let his wig slide and everyone realized that we were the Trimens. We had to use Ren's magic to get us out of there." Ava laughed happily, chatting with one of the more beautiful girls in the guild: DeZille Horae. The girl had won sixth in the Sorcerer's Magazine The Wizard I'd Like to Be My Girlfriend, and had originally joined because she had a crush on Eve. DeZille was a sweet, nice girl, leaning more on the naive side or just plain oblivious side, but nonetheless Ava found her adorable and had quickly become friends with her after a small misunderstanding about Ava being Eve's girlfriend being cleared up. She had quite a wild imagination.
"That's pretty interesting!" DeZille's curious baby blue orbs widened as she leaned closer to her friend. "Tell me more! Tell me more!"
"Well, that's basically it. We stayed in town a few more days just for sightseeing and stuff-it actually was a really nice place, with all the unique shops and just the atmosphere of it all. Then we returned home." Ava rubbed her head sheepishly, twirling a strand of her black hair between her fingers as she sighed. "I'm so tired…"
"But you're also so lucky! Do you know how many girls wanted to be with the Trimens and failed? If I were in your place, I would totally treasure it! I mean, think about it, being on a mission with a bunch of hot guys (minus Ichiya)..." DeZille clasped her face into her hands as a deep red blush began to spread across her cheeks as she rapidly shook her head. "Ah, that would be so amazing to spend time with Eve-kun…"
"You should just confess to him, then. You're pretty and popular enough."
DeZille gasped. "I can't just do that! I mean, it's just so embarrassing and sudden!"
"So?"
"You've obviously never fell in love before then. Who exactly did you hang out with before you met the Trimens?"
"Team Natsu." Ava shrugged nonchalantly, trying to mask the wave of emotions that surged up from even saying that name as DeZille's eyes nearly bulged before she murmured a quick apology. "No, it's alright. I should be getting over the past anyways. Besides, I saw all of the guys on the team as my brothers."
"Just brothers?"
"Yeah." Ava stared as her friend walked off with a huff, muttering something like 'so not fun' as she went to talk to Eve as Ava adopted a contemplating look. "...at least I think I saw them as brothers."
A/N: Yo. I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone that's reviewed, favorited, followed, or even read this story. Your encouragement gives me inspiration.
On a totally different subject, I just want to say that...
a) I used Google Translate for any French in here so I'm sorry it came out wrong
b) Riko Applico (1st chapter) and DeZille are actual characters in Blue Pegasus but only mentioned once in the The Wizard I'd Like to Be My Girlfriend polls so I took the time to develop some characters for them.
c) Did you notice each chapter's slightly longer than the next? (1st- around 2000 words, 2nd- around 3000, etc.) Hehe I try...
d) IMPORTANT Who would you like to see more? Lyon? Natsu? Gray? Hibiki? Ren? Eve? What interactions do you enjoy the most?
Anyways, thanks for reading!