Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
In the early hours of the morning:
"Do you really have to go?"
"Yeah, Erza threatened me if I don't go there on time"
"Just stay a bit longer, only a few more minutes."
"Lis-chan…"
Putting her best puppy face Lisanna convinced Natsu to stay just a bit longer, added the fact she was wearing only a t-shirt that barely covered her nether regions made her an irresistible force. Natsu was supposed to meet Mirajane and Erza to head out to Tenrou Island before the exam begins, but what harm could five more minutes cause?
After some heavy fondling and kissing, a reluctant Natsu forced himself to separate himself from his girlfriend after he realized it was getting late. Grabbing his sword he was about tp head out when Lisanna grabbed hold of his arm.
"I don't want you to go…"
"I don't want to either, but I have to." Natsu turned and shared one last kiss with her "cheer up! We'll see each other in a few days."
Lisanna knew that, but their bond made it harder to be apart from each other. Reluctantly, she let go of him as he headed to the door.
"Don't worry, Happy will keep ya company"
"Aye!"
Natsu and Lisanna's eyes bulged out when they spotted the blue cat inside the bedroom.
"Happy…when did you come in?"
"What do you mean? I've been here the whole time" Happy said with a carefree voice "I just got up when you and Lisanna started…"
"Happy! It's wrong to be watching others while…you know."
"Why? It's not wrong is it?"
Too embarrassed to say more they let it die down. "Anyway, Happy: take care of lis-chan ok?"
"Aye!"
As he was about to leave for good, Lisanna got out of bed and whispered something to him that made Natsu light up in red. Nodding to her he kissed her one last time as he headed out.
"Good morning Natsu-kun!"
Just outside of his house Angel awaited for him. A pleasant surprise for both of them (more so for Lisanna)
"Hey there Angel! Natsu greeted her as he stepped outside "What'cha doing up so early?"
"And Here I might add?" Lisanna asked as she kept her eyes trained on her 'partner' for the exam.
"I just came here to accompany Natsu to the port and say my goodbyes." Angel replied.
"Sounds great!" Being as naïve as always, Natsu agreed with her reason. Waving goodbye to Lisanna he ignored the fact Angel instantly latched on to his arm while giving Lisanna a winning smile.
"Wait! I'll come too!"
"Silly Lisanna, you'll catch a cold wearing only that" Angel said as she lead Natsu away, looking down Lisanna realized she was still in her nightwear and her panties were on plain sight. Blushing furiously she ran back inside to get dressed and follow her boyfriend.
A day later, in Hargeon port, eight teams marched to board the boat that would take them to Tenrou Island: Lisanna with Happy and Angel, Elfman and Evergreen, Gray and Loke, Gajeel and Levy, and finally, Freed and Bickslow.
Seeing some members missing, Gray asked: "Where's everyone else?"
"They probably backed out. Not all have what it's needed for this exam." Freed commented. Just then Lucy and Cana arrived, both with a determined look on their face.
"Cana" The Ice mage looked at her, but the girl in question seemed to ignore him as she kept her gaze focused on the ship. Over the last few days Gray had tried to find her to talk about the incident between them but, until now, he was unable to locate her. Instead of going over there to speak with her he decided to wait; once the boat sailed they would be stuck in it for a day or two, negating her chances to escape him.
The next one to arrive was Juvia, accompanied by a curious partner.
"He's your partner?"
Nodding, she replied: "Juvia wanted to decline this exam, but Gajeel-san forced her to come."
"I will make sure she competes." Pantherlily added "and make her an S class mage." Gajeel would have volunteered to be her partner, but he told Levy first.
"But Gajeel and Juvia are only friends!" Juvia explained to Gray, in case he might think there was something else between them. Not that Gray cared anyway.
"Ok, I guess."
The last candidate to arrive was Mest, accompanied by Wendy and Charle. This was no surprise for them since the wind dragon slayer had told them about her meeting with the mysterious mage days ago.
"Happy, why aren't you with Natsu?" Lucy asked when she noticed the blue cat near Lisanna. "I thought you two were inseparable?"
"Natsu asked me to stay and keep Lisanna some company while he headed towards the Island." Leaving out the part where Erza strictly told him only S class mages were allowed on the island before the competition began.
Even when Natsu was only gone for a day, Lisanna still missed him dearly. Add the fact their bond made it harder for them to be split apart, at least she would see him again soon.
Tenrou Island:
Erza, Mira, Gildarts and Natsu sat around a table on a makeshift camp they had erected while the armored mage explained the rules of the trials:
"You got that?" Erza asked, mostly to the newest member of their club.
"Actually, can you repeat that last part?" Natsu asked, for the second time, earning a scolding from Erza.
"Again?" Erza sighed "Fine. We will each guard a route and block the candidate that comes on our way. YOU will watch over route 5 and remember: the purpose behind this is not to defeat the candidate but to evaluate his performance. Got it?"
"Ara, there's no need to be so severe with him Erza." Mira said "Remember, you and I were once rookies too."
Erza nodded remembering the old days. Once the meeting ended each girl left, Mira to prepare the meal while Erza went to train, leaving Natsu alone with Gildarts.
"We still have until tomorrow before they arrive." Gildarts informed him "do you wanna do it now or after eating?"
"Right now!" an excited Natsu said causing Gildarts to crack a smile.
"Then follow me, I don't think Erza or Mira would forgive us if we trash the camp. Grabbing Yamato, Natsu followed Gildarts, the slayer almost jumping excitedly at the prospect of fighting him.
Even when trapped on the same ship, it didn't make it easier for Gray to catch Cana alone, or at all for what mattered. Every time he spotted her she would hastily escape before he could reach her or be in the company of Lucy or someone else.
So Gray decided to form a plan; arriving on the designated room, the wine cellar, he patiently waited for his prey to come. He didn't have to wait long.
"Gotcha!" The moment Cana stepped inside Gray closed the door, startling her.
"Gray!" Cana looked around for an escape route but found none "Shit!"
"We need to talk".
"There's nothing to talk" going for the door she was frustrated when he blocked it.
"Yes there is; we kissed Cana. That merits a talk between us at least."
"No, it doesn't" dropping her gaze she said "It was a mistake; let's just leave it at that."
Hearing her words caused a small reaction on Gray, a thing she lamented. She didn't want to hurt him, but with all of this going on, the exams and the prospect of telling Gildarts the truth she felt overwhelmed and made her spill her true feelings for him.
"Was it?" Approaching her he left the door unguarded, a thing Cana noticed and made a dash for it only to be stopped by Gray.
"Let me go!"
"Not until you tell me the truth!" Holding her shoulders he focused her eyes on his "Was it really just that? Cause it didn't feel like a mistake when we kissed and it sure didn't feel wrong for me. So look at me and tell me: was it really a mistake?."
"Gray…" Looking at his alluring eyes she felt her resolve crumble as she slowly closer her eyes and approached his lips while he did the same.
"Cana, have you found it?" Lucy barged into the cellar trying to find her partner, only to find Gray as well. Both separated before Lucy could see them together "Are you two alright?
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Both Gray and Cana asked at the same time, a bit louder and both heavily blushing. Before Lucy could say more, Cana grabbed a random bottle and dragged the celestial mage out of the cellar.
"Here it is, let's go!"
Lucy was still curious on what had transpired there, but the force of the pull from Cana left her without answers for the moment. Meanwhile Gray cursed the interruption, but smiled nonetheless.
At least he got his answer.
"Here should be fine"
Natsu looked around at the spot Gildarts chose for their fight, being far away from the camp site gave them ample space to let loose the full extent of their abilities and in turn made him get overexcited.
"Now, before we begin…"
"Let's go Gildarts!"
"Wait just a sec…sigh" Gildarts intercepted the fiery punch from Natsu as all around them exploded. When the smoke cleared Natsu saw Gildarts effortlessly holding his fist back.
"Well, S-class or not, Natsu is still Natsu" using his crush magic Gildarts was impressed when Natsu avoided the attack, albeit barely. "Natsu, you know I don't like to hold back, even more now since you reached the same rank as me."
"Don't worry, I'm not asking for special treatment" flames engulfed Natsu as he faced Gildarts "I'm all fired up! Let's go Gildarts!"
The ace of Fairy tail smirked at Natsu's unending energy "That's more like it! Now come on!"
"Lisanna, are you ok?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"For starters you seemed overexcited about something." Angel said as the two of them watched the sea.
"What makes you think that?"
"The look in your eyes tells me so" Angel answered as Happy added his own observation.
"Aye! You keep tapping your foot down; almost like Lucy does when she wants to p…"
"I don't do that!" Lucy yelled as she materialized and punted Happy to the sky.
Lisanna smiled and resumed watching the sea "Natsu, you're excited. Aren't you?"
Natsu's excitement didn't diminish even when Gildarts dodged and blocked every one of his blows. From the start the slayer knew it would be difficult, but he expected to land at least one good hit. Jumping back to gain distance Natsu unleashed his signature attack:
"Karyu no hoko! (Fire dragon's roar) "
Gildarts merely lifted his hand as the attack came closer "Natsu, you've grown stronger" using his crush magic he segmented the fire attack but miscalculated the power he used. "Shit! Natsu will be…"
To his astonishment, Natsu had it all planned out; the moment Gildarts unleashed his attack Natsu jumped high and drew Yamato for an aerial slash. Just as the blade was about to connect, Gildarts catch it with his two hands.
"Nicely done Natsu, but you're not the first sword wielding mage I've faced."
"Fine by me, I wasn't planning on cutting you…just get closer to you!"
Gildarts eyes widened as he realized Natsu was dangerously close to him "Oh no!"
"Guren Bakuenjin! (Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade)"
Gildarts received the full brunt of the attack, but aside a tattered cloak and some slight burns to his hand he appeared mostly unharmed. However, instead of being disappointed, Natsu was proud of his accomplishment; in the entire fight Gildarts hadn't moved at all, but after that last attack he forced him to take a few steps back.
Taking a moment to dust his cloak Gildarts addressed Natsu "Very impressive Natsu, if you weren't an S-class mage already I would promote you here and now"
Smiling a bit Natsu spoke "thanks, but if I can't beat you then I still don't deserve this promotion"
"I see" Taking a more serious approach Gildarts replied "if you really want to prove yourself, then I won't hold back! In order to fully become an S-class you still need to learn something. And I will show it to you!"
Unleashing his full magic power Natsu was driven back by the sheer force Gildarts seemed to emanate. Erza and Mira felt the island quake but paid no mind to it sensing who was behind it, besides, every Fairy Tail mage was protected while being on the island.
When Gildarts finished releasing his power Natsu could barely hold his ground.
"T-this… is Gildarts true strength?" shaking out of his stupor Natsu tried to charge at Gildarts, but the aura he emanated made Natsu stop dead on his tracks. Reaching for his katana Natsu froze by a hard stare from Gildarts, the slayer searched for any way he could attack, but after a short moment he realized this was a lost cause.
Dropping to his knees Natsu said "I… admit defeat."
Ashamed to look at him, Natsu missed the smile that appeared on Gildarts.
"Good. I will not speak of your courage as something bad, but only few have the bravery to sheath their sword after they've drawn it. Fear is not a weakness; it is a necessity for you to know your weaknesses. If you know your weaknesses, you can become strong and kind. Now that you have learned this I can safely say, welcome to the S-class ranks"
By the end of the speech, Natsu was in tears. Giving him a hand Gildarts helped Natsu back on his feet.
"Let's go, tomorrow you have the duty to impart that knowledge to others."
"Lisanna, what's wrong?" A worried Happy asked after seeing her start to cry.
Wiping her tears Lisanna smiled at him "N-nothing, I'm fine Happy."
"Are you sure?" Angel gave her a skeptical look "then why are you crying?"
There was no way Happy or Angel would believe her if she told them she could feel the same emotions that ran trough Natsu at this very moment. Instead she settled with a simpler answer "I just feel like something good happened to Natsu, that's all."
A.N.
First of all let me say thanks again for all the positive feedback. Sorry if the chapter is a bit short btw.
Now, Rivius and Glon Morski: each and every review I appreciate, but yours are by far the best ones I've ever gotten. I only hope future chapters are of your complete liking. Thanks again for them.
Hinata3487: Sorry, but the more girls after Gray the more fun it will be to write. But don't worry; at least Angel won't go after him. I feel more inclined to pair him with Ultear or Cana (or both…). Although I still feel a pull to pair him with Juvia.
CreateElements: Again, sorry for the pairing : )
Zangetsu1995: Maybe…most likely.
Ultrawolfie: Yeah, I also hate that, I have nothing against Lucy and Natsu pairing (aside the fact this site is swarming with them) but to bash Lisanna only for the sake of some stories is lame.
Max Tiger: I want to write a bit of Gray x Cana due to the fact I think they would have evolved into something more in the manga. Stay tuned to see how they progress.
And to Onebean, NekoiKurona and shadowdemon98 thanks for your reviews. I'm glad you liked the last chapters.
It might take a bit until next chapter since I want to write a follow up to another of my oneshots.
Until next update.
Demonwithasoul