A/N: Pfft...prepare for shippyness~ Sorry there's no Lyon this chapter but I promise he'll come up soon. In the meantime, enjoy the Trimens. :)
"Oi! What the hell were you doing?" Gray grabbed his black haired teammate, the girl swinging around bewilderedly to stare at him with confused amber eyes. They had finally retired for the night after a brutal mission-Team Natsu's missions always somehow managed to get out of control-taking care of a corrupt 'charity' group of mages who had been keeping the money they were given to themselves.
On normal circumstances, Gray would have opted to do nothing but lay in bed or sit in the particularly inviting looking plush violet chair to the left of the room, but frankly he was too pissed off to think.
Ava took a shaky breath, closing her eyes and calming herself before opening them as she said calmly, "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean! What was with that stunt you pulled during the battle?"
"I was just trying to help-"
"Trying to help, my ass! You would have gotten killed had not Natsu arrived at the last second!" His eyes flashed furiously.
During the day, the team had split up into small groups: Erza and Lucy, Natsu and Happy, and Gray and Ava to look for their targets. It had just been their rotten luck that Gray and Ava had encountered the group of mages when they had been completely caught off guard and unprepared, and thus they had no time to call for backup as they were thrust into a battle.
Of course, Gray couldn't take on a group of mages all by himself. At least, he couldn't solo the one they had encountered because the group had been particularly a Fire-Mage based group for some unknown and inconvenient reason, so they had been separated from the battle.
Gray had just about finished up when he felt a surge of magic and turned to see with horror Ava pinned down to the ground by two mages with another two mages aiming at her with their weapons. He was too far away to do anything, and by the looks of it his teammate had said something to enrage their enemies even further.
Had it not been for Natsu-thank goodness for his always barely-on-time entrance: if he had not come a second sooner his teammate's head might have been chopped off-intervening, Ava could have died.
That realization had struck Gray inside the chest, and he acknowledged the fact that he did not want his teammate to leave.
He continued plowing through his rant.
"Huh? You're surrounded by enemies, hopelessly outnumbered, and the next thing you do is taunt them further? And you're always the one who calls Flame Brain stupid!" He snarled, and even though he knew his anger was slightly misdirected, Gray couldn't stop until he noticed the silence.
Ava, as far as he knew, was never silent whenever put down. He turned to see his teammate with her head hung down as she played with her fingers guiltily and he felt his anger slightly subside as he calmed down.
She finally lifted her head, resolve flashing through her eyes. "...Gray, I'm sorry that I worried you."
That statement took him aback. He was...worried? But he just felt that he didn't want her to be in that kind of situation again, that he wanted to protect her, to-
He wanted to groan at his own thoughts. How cliche. How lame. He was acting like a perfectly lovestr-
Gray stopped his thought process. He was not going down that lane again. He had already been over it many times: Ava was fifteen and he was nineteen. He could not like her, at least not in that way. They were like siblings: always teasing and taunting each other but with understanding always about the other person.
"...I won't do something stupid like that again, but don't expect me to not step in if my friends are in trouble. That's just not how I am."
He found his voice again, and Gray shoved his hands in his pockets as he leaned back and sighed. "I know." A smirk tugged at his lips as he added, "After all, you wouldn't be Ava if you didn't do something stupid every once in a while."
"Hey!" She protested, but was quickly cut off by her teammate as he put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer as he watched her, eyes serious.
"But seriously, don't do that again."
She stood silent a moment, the two too close for comfort as their faces nearly touched. Finally, Gray seemed to realize what he was doing as he jumped, face completely red, backwards and nearly bumped into the wall.
"S-sorry." He stuttered, and that action in itself being so out of character she momentarily blinked before smiling, highly aware of her own blush that was starting to spread across her cheeks.
"It's okay." She had barely enough time to finish her sentence before the door opened and an annoyed Natsu called,
"Oi! Are you done with your lover's spat now so we can come inside?"
This promptly led to his two angry teammates-both with completely red faces-punching him in the face and leaving a bruise that would last for a long while. When asked about it when returning back to the guild, the pinkette would only stubbornly reply,
"It was caused by two idiots who are too much in denial to realize their own feelings."
It was evening, and the Sun was setting as the stars began to ascend to their place in the sky as night began to come upon them, the once-light blue sky now a dark black. Ava exhaled, using her right arm to wipe the sweat off of her forehead as she stood up firmly, her knees wobbling a little from the motion. "Again."
"Ava, we both know that you can't handle this training yet. Maybe we should bring it down a notch-"
"No," she interrupted Ren, eyes firm. "Face me again. I can do this."
"You're in no shape to-!"
"Ren, again." Her amber eyes seemed to pierce through him and he sighed, running a shaking hand through his matted black hair, muttering something about stubborn women and Fairy Tail. But despite his reluctance, the man bent down into a fighting stance, and quickly flew toward her, fists extended. She retaliated, moving to the left and swiping a quick jab at his ribs, to which he dodged with ease as Air Magic flew towards her in the form of a mini-tornado. "Aerial Phose!"
She moved to the right, her feet moving in several different patterns as she began to draw lines in the earth. Ren grunted. "Aerial Shot!"
Several rocks were picked up from just the mere speed and force of the Air Magic as they all flew towards her, and her hands moved to form a complicated array in the air as she drew a triangle in the middle. "Reflection!" The rocks that were flying towards her flew into the seal as the pattern glowed for a moment before releasing the rocks back at Ren, to which the Air Mage moved like a panther as he started closing up the distance between him and his teammate.
"You're getting better," he complimented, a gust of Air Magic flying towards her as she ducked and swerved to the left, her body tensing and moving at an angle to avoid his punch. He frowned. "I really don't want to hurt a woman-"
"You've been saying that this whole time, and I've still kept going. Deal with it." Her hands moved, activating a seal and murmuring, "Magic Dome!" at the same time he lifted his arm and shouted, "Aerial!"
Both were enclosed by domes. Ren was surrounded by a bunch of glowing purple arrays that stole his magic whenever he moved, and he had to let out an impressed whistle as Ava glanced around at the translucent dome around her, her ears already hurting from the pressure change Ren had caused thanks to the drop in oxygen. Neither were ready to give, although both panted heavily as they stared at one another. Finally, Ava raised a hand and dispelled the runes, and in turn he dispelled the Air Magic that enclosed her.
They both turned to stare at each other for a moment before literally plopping to the floor, spreading their arms and legs on the grass as they breathed heavily. "That...was...rewarding…" Ava panted, wiping the sweat off of her face with her right arm as she felt the grass prick at her backside and moved slightly to adjust.
"...cool...new...spell…"
"You're... on the brink of...exhaustion... and you're...complimenting me?" Ava threw up her head in the wind and laughed, her hair flying as it got tossed by the wind, the simple movement causing pain.
"As always, sweetheart..."
"Hmm…" Ava stared up at the stars, which were by then high up into the sky and twinkling like a sea of gemstones. The moonlight shone on her face, illuminating the clearing that they were training at with soft celestial light. As they laid there, side by side, uninterrupted in that silent moment of peace and harmony, Ava smiled.
…
…
…
...and then the moment was ruined by the arrival of her other teammates.
"Ichiya-sama, I'm telling you that the perfume you're working on won't be as affecti-AVA! REN!" Hibiki stopped, looking horrified before glaring at his other male teammate he had left in charge of Ava's training. "Ren! Why does Ava have so many bruises?"
"Shit," Ren cursed under his breath as the girl next to him simply giggled, not saying anything to deny the question and silent accusation.
"Ren-san's flirting with nee-chan~" Eve sang.
"How unmanly, men!"
Watching Hibiki and Ren squabble over her well being, Eve laugh merrily, and Ichiya mumble something about the perfume of his team, a smile wormed its way on her face. They weren't the best team, but…
...they were her team.
"You know, I never expected for you of all people to quit the guild, Ava-chan." Mirajane smiled as they relaxed in the natural hot springs Cana had found earlier in the day, steam rising into the air and fading into the night.
So they were going to have this conversation, eh? Two could play at that game. Her eyes sharpened as she gave a nonchalant roll of her shoulders. "I needed adventure."
"Or so you say?"
"People change, Mira-san. I can't really explain it."
"Why?" That one question nearly took Ava's breath away as she paused, her amber eyes glinting in the moonlight as she fiddled with her midnight black hair, considering how she should phrase her answer.
"I was...afraid. I didn't want the past to keep haunting me, so I thought that if I travelled far enough, I could forget about it. But really...I was just running away from the past." Ava's mouth twitched as her mouth slowly moved to form a grin. "But then Eve found me, and the Trimens helped pick me up again. I know they might not be the best, or most serious of people, but they have their moments Mira. They mean...a lot to me."
"I see." Mirajane gave her a small smile as she turned to look at the stars. "You know, I was sort of worried. I knew Hibiki-kun and everyone from a while ago when I was in the modelling career, and I knew how often they played with girls' hearts. But when I actually saw them with you, Ava, I was glad. It seems like they're serious about being your nakama."
"Thanks for worrying about me, Mira." Ava stared at the rocks, sinking into the water as she let her black hair float in different directions as she slumped against the rocks. "I think...I think I'll be fine."
It remained silent for a moment, the only sounds in the background being the quiet creaks of the crickets.
"Heh, of course!" Mirajane beamed, and suddenly the atmosphere changed to a light one once more. "After all, you're surrounded by a bunch of handsome young men! Any girl would die to be in your place." The statement strangely reminded Ava of DeZille, who was currently on a mission with her "not-as-hot" teammates according to the giggly girl.
Mirajane moved so she sat next to Ava, water trickling from her white hair as she clutched her bath towel to her chest. "You know," Mirajane's blue eyes turned soft. "I see all of the girls at Fairy Tail to be something like my little sister. Even after Lisanna came back, and she's still my sister just as much as you all are. You're no exception Ava, even if you're not part of our guild anymore. You shouldn't really worry about it, okay?"
"Really?"
"Of course."
The next day, all the members of the Blue Pegasus team, minus Ichiya who went off to do some special training by himself ("You all will be fine, men~" he had sparkled) were gathered around a training schedule Hibiki had concocted himself to get them ready for the Grand Magic Games. "This...this frankly looks like a training list from Hell." Ren looked at the page of exercises warily, Hibiki giving his teammate the brightest smile he had as Eve peered over his shoulder. Ren swore that he thought his teammate was a sadist and just acted completely fake around women and only showed his true colors around their team.
"It's all for the sake of the guild!"
"And why does she get easier stuff?" Ren pointed at Ava, who was sifting through her training list. In normal circumstances, the Air Mage would have been perfectly fine shouldering the 'men's work', but right now he was too pissed off at Hibiki to do anything else.
"Because she's a woman~"
"You know I can hear you," Ava said annoyedly. "And I refuse to train anything less than all of you, despite my gender. We're all representing Blue Pegasus in the end, anyways, right?"
"But Ava, we don't want those delicate hands of yours gathering blisters-" Hibiki's flirtatious statement (coupled with the suggestive eyes and pose) was cut off by Ava holding up her hands, examining them (bruises, blisters, and cuts still present from Ren and her training session from the other day) and saying, "Too late for that."
"Wahh, nee-chan, you should take care of yourself more!" Eve was all over her, grabbing his first aid kit as he looked at her blistered and cut hands. "What did you do to kill your complexion like this?"
"Blame Ren's Aerial Shot." Ava shrugged as her teammates once again glared at Ren, the tanned boy shooting Ava a look like I'll get you back later as he was assaulted by various comments of 'how dare you ruin a pure maiden's complexion with dirty rocks!'.
Ava couldn't help but smirk as she chided her teammates, Ren sighing in relief although he couldn't help but note that she had waited a few moments for the boys to scold him before interfering. "Let's start training some more."
O_O
A few hours later, they were all on the ground, panting and utterly exhausted as Ren complained about smelling so sweaty. The other three members of his team glared at him, even Eve, who had been too tired to even try to act sweet.
"Ren-san, this is not the time." Eve panted.
"But I'm wearing my new suit." Ren gestured at his velvet black suit, coupled with an overly-expensive white shirt worn underneath.
"Who wears a suit in the mountains during the Summer anyways?!" All three of them chorused accusingly.
"Me."
"..." They all turned away from their tanned teammate, instead looking at each other and nodding in understanding as they exchanged looks. "He's a lost cause."
"Oi!"
"There you are, men~" Ichiya sparkled. "I had smelled the perfume of your rigorous training and had come here! I shall help our team train, so we can truly become manly!"
"Ichiya-san..with all to respect, I am a girl." Her teammate would get along well with Elfman, she was suddenly struck with the thought and shuddered at the mental image.
"Even women can be manly, men!"
"...I'm not sure who's worse, Ren or you, Ichiya-san." Ava deadpanned, Eve and Hibiki nodding as Ren let out another protest that fell on deaf ears.
A/N: Have I ever mentioned how much I love you people? Your encouragement was the thing that made me write more...
Anyways, I love torturing Ren using Hibiki. Hibiki's just awesome and Ren gives me all the right reactions. I feel like I'm neglecting Eve so I'll probably write more of him later. And Ichiya's always there when we need him~
Plot's coming soon. If you've noticed, I dislike writing canon chapters because it's troublesome and the guys sound so lame in it (Ren literally said "I am a user of Air Magic." for the readers and I was totally ready to facepalm -_-). It's getting there, although there might be a subplot that'll tie in the GMG arc.
This story's influencing my everyday life too much. I listen to a Nico Nico version of Magnet (you know, the Vocaloid song?) and imagine Lyon and Gray. Nosebleed.
I started a OC submission fanfic. If you guys would like, check it out~ I'd love to see what all of you would come up with.
Anyways, thank you for all the reviews/favorites/follows/reads!