"Oi, Ava! Want to duel with me?" A certain pinkette's shout managed to make its way through the loud conversations of Fairy Tail to her ears, and she turned around in the small wooden chair, cup of tea in hand as she gave a him a noncommittal shrug, a confident smirk beginning to show itself on her face.

"Sure, just name the time and place." As soon as those words left her mouth she felt a resounding thwack on the back of her head and she nearly fell over, rubbing her sore head as she turned around and began to protest, pulling herself up with her other spare hand. "Erza, it's just one duel!"

"And we both know that whenever Natsu's involved, it's not just a duel." Erza chided, giving a glare at Natsu that left him shriveling backwards before pausing to take a bite of her strawberry shortcake.

"Besides, it wouldn't be fair." Gray's voice rang out to Ava's left, and she turned to see her friend smirking as he taunted his rival. "Flame Brain would lose in a matter of seconds to Ava. Or just accidentally knock himself out."

(Ava could faintly hear Cana wolf-whistle and call out something that sounded like 'love birds', and she shot a glare at the Cards-Mage. She usually got along with the drunkard, after all, she was quite sensible when she wanted to be, but Cana had never gotten over the misconception that she and Gray were an item even though they had repeatedly said that she was four years younger than him and that they weren't like that.)

"Would not, Ice Princess! I'd totally kick her and your asses!" Natsu held up his fists defiantly, face a dark scarlet as he stood up to his full height. "Wanna go?"

"Natsu…" Erza's dangerously low voice interrupted him from going any further as he paled and quickly slung an arm over Gray's shoulder, the other boy doing the same as well, laughing nervously as two completely fake smiles came over their faces as they leaned their heads on each others' shoulders.

"I didn't mean that Erza! Gray and I are best buddies, right Gray?"

"Yeah!" The statement came out more like a squeak, and Ava mildly wondered how the redhead could hold so much power over the two and made a mental note to ask her later for her secrets. Spotting a bright blue ribbon bouncing up and down in the crowd and heading towards them, she brightened and waved, thankful that someone sane was present in their group as she ignored the ongoing situation. "Lucy, over here!"

The busty blonde grinned, a gentle smile coming across her face as she walked over to them, standing next to Natsu. Her eyes darting between Gray, Natsu, Erza, and Ava, Lucy sighed and shook her head in mock exasperation. "Please don't tell me the boys were going to do something stupid again." As Gray casted her a wounded glance, she added as an afterthought, "Well, Natsu was going to do something stupid most likely." A smile touched Ava's lips. The blonde was always their voice of reason, and Ava often came to Lucy for advice whenever she felt down, although Gray still remained her main confident.

"He was going to challenge Gray and I to a duel. And was hoping to win." Ava answered, an eyebrow raised in faint wonder at how the scantily-dressed boy could think he could do such a thing as the pink-haired boy gave her his famous puppy-eye look which she plainly ignored. It was a wonder that he was older than her, she thought as she watched with unsympathetic eyes as Erza whacked Natsu on the head again.

"Natsu…" Lucy growled as Natsu withheld a gulp, laughing nervously as he rubbed the back of his head, tanned muscular arms seemingly shivering with fright as the blonde bared down before him, her hands inching towards her pouch of keys. Natsu's obsidian eyes darted down at where her hand was creeping towards and he held up his hands in defense, head looking back and forth for an escape route from Erza and Lucy when he suddenly darted behind Ava.

"Don't bring me into this!" She whispered furiously as Ava tried to push the pink-haired boy away from his hiding spot, her voice sounding slightly nervous as she looked at Erza and Lucy, both furious females turning to look in her direction as she gave a resounding kick to her other teammate, hissing, "Gray, help me out here!"

The said bluenette suddenly looked up and gave her a very sorry and fake smile as she sunk down in her seat and muttered a quiet 'traitor...' as he inched away from the scene, looking over at Mirajane and giving another fake smile as he said, "Oh, look, there's Mira. I'm going to go ask her if there are any jobs available. Bye!" He quickly slipped away, the last two sentences more like a hurried blur as he fast-walked (ran) to the white-haired woman.

"Ava…" Erza said with a strained tone as she twitched, her teammate doing the same as she gulped and looked up at her. "...move away now unless you want to be pulverized."

"I'm trying!" The black-haired girl protested as her amber eyes darted towards Natsu as she stood up and moved to her left, the pinkette copying her actions as he still hid behind her. "But he keeps on following me!"

"Well I suppose that's too bad." Erza's body began glowing dangerously as Ava turned around furiously at Natsu, the pinkette shrinking away from her glare.

"Now look what you got me into!"

"Not my fault!"

"You started it!"

"You agreed to it!"

"Stop blaming it on me!"

"Why shouldn't I blame it on you?"

"Oh, that's it!" Ava lunged forward at the same time as her partner before they were both promptly sent flying courtesy of a certain red head, an amused Lucy standing behind her as she crossed her arms and sighed. They happened to blast through the wall, making a decent sized hole as Makarov nearly cried tears of sadness while Mira resignedly patted him on the head reassuringly, Gray rolling his eyes and muttering something that sounded akin to 'idiots'. The whole guild turned to see the commotion and when recognizing the rowdy group, turned back to their conversations as if nothing ever happened.

When one visitor, eyes bulging and staring at the scene, asked Cana what was going on, the brunette had simply shrugged and gave him a knowing smile, a flash of pride shining in her eyes. "Just another day in Fairy Tail," she said as her answer.

"...and...down!" Ava hopped off the last monster's body, looking fairly triumphant as she turned her head to check on how her other teammates were doing. Hibiki was teaming up with Ichiya to defeat a mob of monsters near her right. To her left, Eve was freezing monsters while Ren was blowing them away, both looking focused and serious (for once) as they battled.

"Not bad, sweetheart!" She heard Ren call over his shoulder as he moved out of the way of one of the monster jabs fairly easily, rolling his shoulders to stretch the muscles before swiping his hand towards the monsters, murmuring, "Aerial Shot." The sudden blast of wind caught them off guard, and the onslaught of rocks that hit the monsters made them go flying made them land in a heap of bodies as Ava gave him a small smirk.

"Bet you I can defeat more of them then you," she challenged.

"You're on!" He called to her, leaping into the wave of monsters and creating spells right and left. A group of monsters were edging closer to her right, and Ava quickly spun around and opened the scroll in her hand, eyes flashing as she chanted, "Seal of Flames, activate!"

The scroll opened with a red glow, and a burst of flames seared the edges of the monsters' skins, and they growled as they watched her warily, both parties tensed as they waited for the next move. They were moving slowly in a circle, and Ava's feet moved at the same time as theirs. Finally, the monsters got tired and they lunged, claws sharp and glistening in the sunlight, just as she shouted, "Magic Full-Body Seal, activate!"

The ground below them shook and began glowing, and Ava was able to throw a small victorious smile at Ren before the monsters sunk into the ground when suddenly that victory became alarm. Ava began cursing as she felt their magic rush into the seal, and she barely withheld a scream as pain shot into her body like a bullet. Her knees buckled slightly. Her head was spinning, and there was a faint buzz in her ears as she heard Eve's concerned, "nee-chan!" before she shook off the feeling, completing the sealing as she reached into her bag and opened a scroll, watching transfixed as the magic transferred into the open seal.

"Done," she muttered, closing the scroll and standing up again. Her ears were still slightly ringing. Looking over their makeshift battlefield, a flattened plain that used to be part of a rainforest, she realized that the battle was finished and everyone was starting to regroup.

"Good job, everyone." Ichiya nodded at Hibiki, then Ren, then Eve, and finally herself. Ava couldn't help the warm feeling she felt as she smiled.

"Thank you, Ichiya-san."

"We're heading back to the guild, men~!"

"Hai!"

As they walked back to the Christina, Eve and Ava started an idle discussion, the latter avoiding the former's worried eyes asked he asked about the technique she just used. "I've never seen that move yet," Eve prompted as the attention of Ren and Hibiki turned to their conversation as well.

"A new one I've been testing out." Ava shrugged nonchalantly. "I honestly didn't expect it to work. Instead of drawing a seal with my hands, I tried doing it with my feet. The seal was supposed to suck all of their magical energy or whatever I could handle, but it was kind of risky because seals created during battle are more unstable. That's why it kind of backfired on me a bit." To reassure them, she added lightly, "Don't worry, it's not much. I probably just have to reinforce the seal later and be a little more careful when using my magic for a few days."

Hibiki nodded thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, his eyes flashing that way they only did when he was in deep thought. "That's pretty interesting. If you were to perfect that technique…"

"It would be a totally badass move," Ren finished, raising his eyebrows suggestively as he gave her a nod of approval, his tan hand clapping on her shoulder. "Sweetheart, you have one hell of an attack you got there."

"Well, not how I was going to put it...but sure." Hibiki's eyebrows knitted together as he gave her a thoughtful look.

"The most powerful women are after all the most beautiful." Ren purred, and Ava rolled her eyes, having become immune to their flirting after so long, and Ren's shoulders slumped at the lack of response, but sort of expected it after so many attempts of trying to flirt with his teammate going wrong. Most of the Trimens had eventually realized that flirting would do no good with the girl, although that realization didn't keep them from throwing out compliments every now and then.

"I think it's really cool, nee-chan!" Eve jumped in eagerly, bobbing his head up and down, his golden hair catching the sunlight quite nicely and Ava couldn't help but soften as his innocent blue eyes met her gold.

"Thanks." Changing the subject, she shifted her weight to her other foot as she blinked thoughtfully, her golden eyes sliding towards her shortest teammate as she couldn't help but suppress a grin. "You know, I think that Eve defeated the most monsters."

"What? Sweetheart, you got it all wrong. I totally defeated the most."

"Eh."

"So mean~"

"..." The two engaged in a silent stare off, with their other teammates to the side trying to hold back their laughter at how ridiculous they looked like. Ren was pouting, looking like a small child who was denied his candy, while Ava held her deadpan expression with expertise that could only come with practice. Eve was cheering, pumping his fist in the air as he shouted, "Nee-chan likes me the most!". Hibiki just sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly as the corners of his mouth twitched and threatened to reveal the smile he knew was coming.

"Let's make haste, men~"

"Hai…"

As they walked sullenly with no further distractions, Ava couldn't help but smile and sigh contentedly as her shoulders relaxed.

They were heading home.

"A cheers for another job well done." Hibiki raised his glass of wine, the liquid translucent when held against the light, and grinned at his companion. "You look stunning."

"Why, thank you. You do as well," Ava said, drumming her fingers against the counter of the bar, making a rhythmic tap tap as she looked down self consciously at her choice of dress. It was a simple maroon colored dress, the shade close to the drink Hibiki held in his hands, and she had worn it with her usual silver bracelets. Her companion himself was looking amazing, with his dark-gold hair swept to the side complimenting his blue shirt and slick black pants. "We must look like a stunning pair." She felt her mouth twitch, threatening to turn into the smile she knew was sure to come. She could feel the envious gazes of the other female mages of the guild watching her as she scooted a little farther away from Hibiki subtly. At least she wasn't with Eve: DeZille would absolutely kill her.

"Indeed." He closed in the distance so that they were sitting shoulder to shoulder, still smiling as Ava gave a nervous laugh. The barmaid set down a white cup, steam emanating from the golden-brown liquid.

"You know," Hibiki said thoughtfully as he tapped his finger on his chin, one of the many things Ava had grown accustomed to after working with the group for a year. "I think Master Bob will elect you to be one of the members of our team for the Grand Magic Games next year."

"Really? You think so?" Ava looked up, curious, as she held a cup of Chai tea in one hand and a packet of sugar in the other. They were sitting at the guild's bar, and after ordering their respective drinks from the rather busty waitress (who flirted back with Hibiki, much to Ava's amusement and somewhat consternation), were now at the counter and chatting amicably.

"Of course! You haven't noticed, Ava-chan?" Hibiki gestured extravagantly. "You've been working with our team for almost a year, so you know how we work. You've won over most of the guild members. And not to mention you can stay focused in battle and are pretty helpful and resourceful too."

"Well...I guess," Ava said somewhat doubtfully, the gears in her mind clicking. "Then the team's probably you, me, Ichiya-san, Eve, and Ren, right?"

"Smart girl," Hibiki smiled approvingly, letting his arm casually drape over her shoulders. She stiffened, just a bit, but quickly relaxed and shot him a teasing smile, playing along with his game as she had done so many times before.

"That's why you all love me."

Hibiki paused before saying, "I guess so."

Feeling the uncomfortable atmosphere, Ava slipped out of his grasp as she ripped open the packet of sugar and poured the whole bag into her cup of tea, the crystalline grains sparkling as they fell into the hot liquid. Seeing his inquiring look, she shrugged and explained simply, "I like my tea sweet. It was a bad habit that I started a long time ago."

"True, tea is quite delightful... But don't you think wine is more...romantic?" He held up the glass, the maroon liquid sloshing back and forth from the motion as he offered it to her. She stared at it, as if transfixed on the object momentarily before her golden eyes met his chestnut, making the former's breath catch for a second before she regained her composure.

"Sure it is." Her hand reached out and pushed the glass of wine back to him as she smiled at his mock-hurt expression, unyielding in defending her favorite drink's honor. "But tea's better. More traditional."

"Never took you as the traditional type."

"Don't judge a book by its cover, I guess." Her lips stretched outwards as she grinned ferally at him, amber eyes glinting as she leaned forward, her voice lower an octave from excitement, the influence Natsu had made on her showing as her eyes glinted. "Do you think we'll have a new mission soon?"

As soon as the words left her lips, a cheerful 'hello!' interrupted their conversation as their heads turned to see Master Bob walking through the doors of Blue Pegasus-and by walking through, it literally meant walking through. The first time Ava had witnessed their guild master's magic was when he popped in her apartment to make sure she was settling in well. She had been changing into her nightclothes at the time, and when she saw her rather ridiculously dressed master in her apartment, she had let out a scream before nearly wrecking her apartment as she threw objects at him. Now things were over; after a nice long talk about how yes she understood it was an accident and yes Master Bob would never do that again, she and the flamboyant man had gotten along somewhat. After being a member of Fairy Tail, there was no strange incident she couldn't recover from (at least, that's what she told herself).

"Hello, Master Bob." Ava assumed her professional tone as she swiveled around the metal chair, face neutral as she asked, "What can we do for you?"

The crossdressing man smiled nervously as he played with his fingers while hopping over to the two, making sure that his wings didn't knock over anything, even if the action was quite unnecessary with his ability as the more serious side of him shined through. "I just came back from somewhere...I'm not sure if it's true but I think you deserve to know."

Ava's eyes sharpened at the same time as Hibiki's, and she stood up and asked in a cool voice, "What is the matter?"

"M-Magic. Magical readings have been skyrocketing near where Tenroujima Island once was." The man winced, waiting for her to explode. And she almost did, if not for the hand on her shoulder to placate her.

"Ava." Hibiki warned, his tone serious and enhanced by the fact that he didn't use honorifics. He had only used this tone on missions: usually the golden-haired man would adapt more of a shallow tone when he flirted with girls (which was basically any time they were off duty).

Her chest heaved, upwards and downwards as she took deep breaths to steady her breathing as she fought to hold back her nausea. She would not be weak anymore. She couldn't afford to, after so many had sacrificed themselves to let her make it this far. Her voice was steady as she asked, "Do you mean they're alive?"
"We don't know," he said as honestly as he could. "But we're heading over to Fairy Tail right now to alert them of this. Ichiya's getting ready the Christina as we speak. I can not go, but you and the Trimens can."

Unconsciously, Ava's feet began to take her where she knew Ichiya and the Christina would be, not even minding the fact that Hibiki wasn't following her and was instead speaking in a hushed tone with Master Bob behind her. All that mattered was for her to go. To find out what happened. To let her finally have a peace of mind. She paused before she exited the guild. "Thank you, Master Bob."

A/N: And...the canon action begins. How nice. A lot of Team Natsu, Team Lyon, and Trimens action ahead~

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