Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

"Speech"

"Thoughts"

"I'd say the same to you, Mira-nee. I love you, but I'll defeat you!"

Mirajane couldn't help but smirk at her sister's response "Is that so? Then show me what you are capable of…little sister"

"Take over: Dragon soul!" Flames engulfed Lisanna before emerging in her dragon persona, lunging at Mira Lisanna put her entire strength behind her fist forcing the satan user to block the attack but not without being driven back a good distance.

"Not bad. But you still have a long way to go before you can reach me." Not waiting for a reply, Mirajane stunned Lisanna and kicked her in the stomach sending her crashing through some rocks. With Lisanna out of the way for the moment Mira turned her attention to the other white hair girl.

"Open the gate of the…ahhhhhh" Angel jumped out of Mira's attack, albeit barely, forcing the celestial spirit to end her summons speech. Looking up Angel glared while Mira had an amused smirk.

"Damn it Mira! Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Angel, even when we are friends that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you." Taking a look to where Lisanna was sent she added "on either of you."

In a burst of flames, the rocks exploded revealing Lisanna ready for more "It goes both ways…Mira-nee…"

Ignoring Angel for the moment, Mirajane faced Lisanna as the dragon user engaged her.

"Flame sphere!"

"Evil spark!"

Levy took cover behind some trees while the two dragon slayers let loose. Cursing for acting like this but she couldn't help but feel afraid of stepping between those two knowing full well what they are capable of.

"Come on Levy! You're braver than this." Gathering her courage she took a peek, only to squeak and seek cover a second later when Gajeel landed next to her.

"Are you alright?"

The iron slayer ignored her as he kept his eyes trained on Natsu "Damn it! When did he become this powerful?" While in the past they were somewhat equal in terms of strength, Gajeel was taken by surprise (but not in the good way) after feeling Natsu's power firsthand.

For his part, Natsu surveyed Gajeel with a serious expression. In the past he would be taunting the Iron slayer but that wasn't the point of the exam; he was here to evaluate their performance, besides, Erza left it clear he was to act professionally while at it. But what harm was in a little motivational taunt?

"What's wrong Gajeel-chan? Is this too much for you?"

"Why you!" Hearing the 'chan' suffix drove Gajeel's anger to the point he decided to use his iron scale form. With his power level up Gajeel launched a fist, which in turn became an iron pole that landed in Natsu's chest that sent him flying a good deal of feet away.

"That's more like it!" Natsu's grin made Gajeel mad. As he was about to respond Gajeel looked at his side to see Levy with a determined look.

"Levy?"

"Forgive me for leaving it all to you Gajeel, but I'm here to help you now." Levy said while trying to control her fear of getting caught in one of Natsu's attacks.

Seeing her state, Gajeel took a step forward as to provide cover for her. "To be honest; you wouldn't last a minute against him." Before she could reply he added "but together we can beat him."

Smiling at his words she nodded while trying to fight the small blush caused by his words. Focusing on Natsu who was watching them with an amused smile they took the initiative:

Using her solid script magic Levy conjured some iron for Gajeel to eat and recover his magic. Looking at the eating slayer Natsu couldn't help but feel hungry as well.

"Hey Levy! Can I get some fire as well?"

"Sorry Natsu, but right now we're foes. I'll conjure some fire after we beat you, ok?"

"Sure!" Natsu replied back as his brain took a moment to process what Levy told him "Hey wait!"

"Don't let your guard down!" stomach now full, Gajeel attacked head on forcing Natsu on defense.

"Water!" Figuring since his magic consisted mostly on fire, Levy decided on attacking with the opposite element. Seeing the torrent of water coming his way, Natsu jumped out of the way leaving Gajeel to end up soaked on his place.

"What the hell Levy!"

"Sorry!" the blue hair girl apologized; looking behind him she tried to warn him but she was too late as Natsu hit Gajeel with his Karyu no Tekken.

"What you say about letting your guard down?" Natsu asked with a smug grin.

Gaining some distance from him, Gajeel stood next to an embarrassed Levy. Before she could say something he beat her to it.

"Gajeel…"

"Forget about it. Now come on, we have a fight to win."

Getting the reassurance she needed, Levy agreed with him and together both resumed their attack on Natsu.

"What was that, about good luck Cana?"

Instead of answering, Cana drew her cards and took an offensive stance forcing Gray to take one as well. "Lucy! I'll take on Loke while you face Gray!"

Not hearing an answer from her but an eek, Cana turned around to see Loke carrying a struggling Lucy bridal style. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry Cana, but you don't get to decide who faces who" The celestial spirit said before speaking to his partner "if you may?"

"Ice make: wall!" putting his hands on the floor Gray created a thick ice wall that separated Lucy and Loke from them. Without interruptions Gray spoke: "you seemed pretty eager to face Loke instead of me, any reason why?"

Cana launched some cards that unleashed an electric charge towards Gray, acting fast he erected his Ice shield to block the electricity coming his way.

"Cana wait! Can't we talk for a moment?"

"Gray, regardless on what's going on between us, right now we are competing against each other!"

"Yes I know that, but when are we going to talk? Every time I try to speak with you, you manage to avoid me or just plain ignore me!"

While he tried to reason with her, Cana switched her attacks to fire which proved more effective against his ice shield. Cursing, Gray rolled out of the flame's path and sent a stern stare at the brunette. "Fine! I'll force you to listen to me! Ice make: lance!"

"Put me down now!" Lucy tried with all her might to break free from Loke's grip but found she was incapable (or subconsciously unwilling) to do so. "As your owner I order you to put me down, Now!"

"Sorry Lucy, but remember our contract is negated during the exam."

Seeing he would budge, Lucy tried to close his gate by force even when she knew Loke was here on his own accord and as expected it was pointless.

Seeing it was far enough to give Gray and Cana some privacy, Loke put Lucy down. As he did so the leader of the zodiacs was already missing the feeling of holding her close to him.

Lucy was also missing the closeness between them, feeling cold all of a sudden. Shaking her head before her thoughts start to divagate she faced her strongest spirit. "Loke, I don't want to fight you."

"Me neither, but I promised Gray I would make him an S class mage."

"You value Gray's friendship that much" Lucy couldn't help but smile softly at his words, but her smile turn into a thin line "But I also promised Cana the same. What do you propose?"

"It's clear we don't want to fight each other, so what do you say we let them duke it out while we wait here? There's a 'Lot' we can do to pass time"

Lucy turns red hearing his insinuations, fighting the blush she asked "Why do you insist on saying that? We both know you're a mayor player, flirting is a second nature to you."

"You're wrong Lucy. While I admit that last part is true, there's only one person I'm interested on."

Lucy found herself mesmerized by the intense look he was giving her: "E-even if that was true, I'm a human and you're a celestial spirit; what you say is impossible. Let alone a relationship."

"Nothing's impossible" As he tried to reach her she took a step back, thinking on a clever idea he voiced it to her "How about this: if you beat me I'll stop bothering you with this."

"It doesn't bother…" Lucy began to say but slammed a hand to her mouth to stop what she was about to say, a thing that made Loke smirk "A-and if you beat me?"

"You agree to go on a date with me. What do you say?"

"Well, it's a win-win situation…What am I saying!" Lucy ended that particular line of thought and decided to take up on his offer "Deal!"

The moment she said that she regretted it when Loke's smirk grew if that was even possible, the look he gave her was like a cat when he had his prey right where it wanted it. "Just so you know; I don't intent on losing…Lucy."

His words cause a feeling of dread, but strangely also a feeling of excitement to run through her.

At the crossroads of the eight paths, Makarov patiently waited for the candidates that managed to pass the first part of the exam. Feeling a particular strong magic source he wasn't surprised when Gildarts emerged from one path.

"I take it Mest didn't pass?"

Nodding, the ace of Fairy tail detailed the important parts of his match with Mystogan's apprentice while Makarov was forced to agree with him. A moment later, a mostly unscratched Elfman and Evergreen made their presence known.

As usual, Elfman said one of his manly catchphrases: "Only those men enough are the first to pass!"

"Excuse me? Wasn't I the one that defeated our foes while you cowered behind me?" Evergreen asked with a slight glare while a nervous Elfman agreed with her "Some 'men' you are."

"Excuse me elf-san, but you are not the first to get here. Juvia arrived here long before you did."

Indeed, Juvia was beneath the shade of a tree with her trademark umbrella while Pantherlily was resting at her side.

"Juvia, you also made it! That's manly! Out of curiosity who did you face?"

"Erza-san" As the word left her lips, Elfman and Evergreen's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

"You d-defeated Erza!" Evergreen was still unable to believe the water mage was capable of such a feat.

"Actually, Juvia didn't defeat Erza-san but more like reached a draw with her." Juvia calmly informed.

"Even so; that's quite the accomplishment!" Elfman said.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Pantherlily said entering the conversation "With the right motivation Juvia here is capable of everything."

With motivation Lily meant his little lie about Gray, but that was enough to convince Juvia to fight to her full extent for the prize that waited when she wins (and she's not talking about the promotion)"

Thinking about Gray, Juvia said: "I wonder when will Gray-sama come here?"

"Right now four teams remain" Makarov said getting their attention "and from those at much only three can pass."

"If they can defeat Mira and Natsu, that is."

Back to Lisanna and Angel, both were having a hard time facing Mira; most of Lisanna's attacks didn't hit her, and the ones that did Mira would merely brush off as nothing. For her part, Angel was unable to summon a spirit since each time she tried she was stopped by an attack from Mira that forced her to take shelter from it.

Lisanna thought on using her wings to take a different approach, but decided against it since Mira was exceptionally skilled in aerial fighting. Focusing most of her magic on a single attack she tried something she had been working on: she extended her wings but didn't took into the air as she gathered flames around her arms, once she was certain there was enough fire gathered around them she extended her arms and launched a flamethrower and at the same time flapped her wings to cause the flames to speed up to its target. The result was an increase in the speed of her attack as well as a distinctive spin of them.

"Flame tornado!"

Caught off guard by the sudden increase in speed, Mira was hit by the flames but much to Lisanna's disappointment it seemed the attack wasn't as damaging as she thought. She was about to try a different attack when in the blink of an eye Mira closed the gap between them and slammed an evil spark to her abdomen.

Angel was trying to think of a way to help Lisanna since she hadn't done anything since the start of the match, when an idea suddenly hit her: "Mira stop! Lisanna is pregnant with Natsu's child!"

This got Mira's attention but only for a second: "Come on now! Do you think I'm that naïve to believe that?" Deep down Mira had her doubts since she knew her sister often spent the night with the dragon slayer, but Lisanna confessed to her they had still to take that step.

"It's the truth!" desperately thinking of something to add to allow Lisanna time to recover she got it: "Natsu has a box of condoms and last time I checked he ran out of them!"

At this Mira's eyes widened since she knew for a fact this was true, after all she was the one that gave them to him: "you're lying!"

"No, I'm not" Seeing Mira was falling for it she dropped the last nail to the coffin "The night before he left, we had a threesome and I certainly recall feeling him al natural, not using any protection at all. In fact: I might also be pregnant with his child."

Believing all this, Mira was frozen on the spot with various scenarios flashing before her eyes. Right where she wanted her, Angel summoned Andromeda to bind Mira with her chains while Lisanna didn't had to be told what to do and attacked with all of her strength.

"Karyu no Tekken!" using the move Natsu taught her, she hit Mira hard enough to knock her out. As Mira landed a good deal away from her last position she reverted back to her normal persona before losing consciousness.

"We did it!" Angel cheered while her sado spirit still remained present.

"Mistress, you still haven't presented me with the bondage session you promised."

"Oh about that…next time, definitely" Angel still remained a bit shaky with her spirit's weird request, before Andromeda could say more Angel closed her gate.

After Lisanna was sure Mira was ok she turned to Angel. "Nice tactic, but did you really had to include yourself in that lie?"

"Relax, I would never do that." Before Lisanna felt at ease, Angel added "When I get to that stage with Natsu-kun it will be just the two of us."

Lisanna narrowed her eyes but decided to leave it at that, she was too tired to fight with her after facing her sister.

With Levy's full support, Gajeel was faring better against the fire slayer. Natsu thought about using dragon force against them but he knew that would be overkill, besides this was not a fight to the death. Then again Gildarts didn't hold back when they fought so he was entitled to pass that knowledge to them, but decided he could do just that by using his newest asset.

As Gajeel tried to impale him with his saw like hand, Natsu drew Yamato in one quick move and parried the attack.

"What the?" even when his hand was currently a saw, Natsu's katana still managed to cut him deep enough for him to feel pain. Using his other hand he was shocked it faired the same luck when the blade blocked him and produced a small cut. Taking a few feet of distance between himself and the sharp blade, Gajeel inspected his wounds. The cuts were only superficial but what shocked him was the fact that the blade managed to inflict them while he was in his current form. He wasn't the only one when Levy saw them as well.

"Are you alright Gajeel?" Before he could reply he was forced to block a vertical swing from Natsu.

"Give up Gajeel, or else I'll be forced to slice you in half." Natsu was of course bluffing, but he needed to instigate fear into him.

Gajeel grunted when he realized it was the truth: he was almost out of magic to maintain his iron scale mode and there was not an opening for Levy to give him some Iron to eat. The moment he returned to his human self, Natsu's katana would cause more damage than simple cuts.

Meanwhile, seeing Gajeel's current predicament, Levy tried to think of a plan to help him but in the end she knew what she had to do: "I give up!"

"What?" Natsu stopped his attack and turned to Levy. Gajeel did the same.

"Why the hell did you say that! I had him under control!"

Looking down, Levy fought back the tears as she spoke: "Because that's a lie and we know it: one wrong move and you might get seriously hurt. I don't want to give up, but I also can't let you get hurt by my fault. So I give up!"

Sheathing his sword, Natsu said to then: "It's important to realize one's limitations but more so to make the hardest choice for the sake of your nakama's. Congratulations, you pass."

"R-really?" Wiping her tears away Levy was still unable to believe this wasn't a dream.

Grinning, Natsu replied "Really! You chose a fine partner Gajeel. If it wasn't for her you wouldn't have passed on to the next stage" Levy fell back after hearing Natsu praise Gajeel.

"I'm the candidate! Not Gajeel!"

"Ice make: cannon!"

Cana tossed dozens of cards just to stop the ice projectile but it seemed it was futile as the ice slammed right through her cards. Rolling on the last minute she desperately searched for any way to counter Gray's magic, but in the mere seconds she took her eyes off him he seemed to have vanished.

Before she knew what was going on, an ice cage materialized around her as Gray landed on top of it.

"Got ya!" pleased with his work he dropped down to face her "Now listen…"

He never finished his phrase when he saw a glowing card just outside the cage, an explosive card left at the very last minute by Cana before she was trapped. Gray tried to raise his ice shell but the card detonated in front of him. As Cana emerged from the hole in the cage she watched in horror as Gray's body dropped a few feet away with a sickening thud.

"Oh god!" in her desperation to win the match she didn't foresee actually hurting him "Gray!"

Reaching him in several strides Cana cradled Gray's unconscious form, but Gray's body seemed to fragment into several ice pieces.

"An ice clone!"

When Cana realized it was a trick it was too late as Gray sneaked up behind her and bound her hands in ice cuffs, effectively disabling her.

"Let me go!" Cana tried to struggle, but found herself at the mercy of Gray.

"Not until we talk" Seeing that she still struggled he added "Or I can simply freeze you in a giant iceberg until you decide to cooperate. You pick?"

Realizing she wouldn't last long encased in ice wearing only her bikini she was forced to cooperate.

"Good, now then; why have you been avoiding me all this time?"

"You already know that; it was a mistake! Please just leave it like that." Cana tried to implore but Gray wouldn't have any of it.

"We both know that's not true. So for once let's be honest with ourselves and admit we care about each other."

"What then? We admit it and let our feelings get in the way of the exam." Trying to free herself again she struggled only for Gray to press her body to his. The close proximity and their lack of clothes drove Cana's hormones out of check.

"G-gray…"

"Gildarts will accept you even if you aren't an S class mage."

"You knew!"

"You told me years ago, remember?" Gray asked with an amused smile causing Cana to look down in shame. "You don't have anything to prove to your father, he will love you the same, that's what parents do."

"It was back then, wasn't it…the first time I failed the exam and was depressed. You came and cheered me up. That's when I confessed the truth." Cana said, remembering that day. She also remembered that was the day she started seeing Gray more than a friend.

"Yes, that's right. Cana, I'm sorry if I neglected you over the last few months but let me make it up to you. If you allow me, I'll make you happy."

On the verge of tears Cana chocked as she struggled to speak: "Gray…please forgive me!"

Taken off guard, Gray never expected to receive a knee to the groin by part of Cana. Acting fast she used a special card from her pouch to melt the ice that binds her as Gray struggled to stand back up.

"Cana…cough…wait!" As he looked down he realized he was inside a circle of magic cards Cana put there while he was in pain.

"Sorry Gray, but I just have to win this, only then will I be able to face him. Please don't hate me!"

"Cana, nooo!" Gray's words died when he was taken out by the combined magic from her cards. Once she was sure he was unconscious she leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Forgive me."

As Lisanna and Angel reached the end of their path they began to feel the presence of a certain someone waiting for them. Feeling him trough the bond, Lisanna smiled knowing just who it was.

Leaning against a tree, stood Natsu waiting for them. As Lisanna was about to greet him, Angel rushed past her.

"Natsu-kun!"

"Hey there!" Natsu cheerfully replied as Angel latched onto him, much to Lisanna's dismay. Being as naïve as always, Natsu didn't knew Angel's proximity was slowly eating his girlfriend's patience. "You passed the first test!"

"Yes I did!" Angel instantly replied, making Lisanna snap.

"You mean I did! Remember I'm the candidate, and also did most of the fighting!"

"But we win thanks to me." Angel countered, forcing the takeover mage to agree with her.

Unlatching out of Angel's grasp, Natsu approached Lisanna and kissed her. "I missed you."

"Me too"

It was only for a few days, but for the young couple it seemed longer. Angel decided to turn around to avoid watching the painful image of them kissing. Once they broke apart, Natsu asked where Happy was.

"He stayed with Charle on the boat. I think he liiikes her." Lisanna answered causing Natsu to grin.

Not resisting more of it Angel cut into their conversation "Can we go now? I want to see what test is next."

"Sure" Natsu started walking with Lisanna leaning against him while Angel followed. "Oi Lisanna, how did you beat Mira anyway?"

Both Lisanna and Angel paled as Natsu waited for an answer. "It's kinda like this…"

"Open gate of the bull: Taurus!"

By Lucy's command the celestial bull spirit emerged to face whatever threat his owner was facing, however not before commenting on how good she looked.

"Oh Lucy-hime! Your boobs seem ready to burst out! Moo!"

"Pervert!" Lucy yelled and covered her chest, already regretting summoning the bullman. For his part, Loke felt the sudden urge to ram Taurus to the ground with Regulus but realized that would look bad. Wait! They are fighting after all!

A moment later, and several punches later, a battered Taurus returned to the spirit world. Not without Loke apologizing to him regretting getting carried away a bit. For her part, Lucy felt bad for Taurus but at the same time was glad he got what was coming to him.

"Two down, Lucy-hime"

Loke's voice returned her to her present situation. She had first lost Sagittarius and now Taurus, which left her thinking on who was best suited for the task at hand. Gemi and Mini might be as powerful as Loke, but Lucy didn't want a draw if both of them fought. Maybe Aquarius; it would be interesting to see a fight between her two most powerful spirits (even if she had to get dragged into the current too) but there was no water source nearby. Aries was out of the question for obvious reasons, then who.

"Cancer! But…I don't want to leave Loke bald"

"Lucy, just give up."

"No, I can't, not with what's at stake." Reaching for Scorpio's key she stopped at his next words.

"Is the idea of a date with me that bad?"

"Loke, I wasn't talking about…" As Lucy was about to explain she meant failing to help Cana, something struck Loke from behind, effectively paralyzing him. "Loke!"

Once Loke was out of the way, Cana revealed herself "Lucy, are you alright?'

"Cana, why did you do that?"

"Did what? Help you in your fight?"

Seeing she was kinda right, Lucy dropped the matter. After Loke came around she would explain everything. "Wait, if you're here does that mean you defeated Gray?"

Not particularly proud of it, Cana simply nodded.

"Wow! Way to go Cana!"

Instead of replying to her, Cana simply headed towards the now open exit, leaving Lucy to wonder just what happened between her and Gray.

A.N.

Time to answer some reviews:

VictoryPeace: When will next chapter come out? Now.

FTfan: This is a Gray x Cana, and also a Gray x Ultear. But the main pairing is Natsu x Lisanna.

LMG Sasquatch and shadowdemon98: Will do! Check my other story "Frozen Hearts'' for more Gray x Ultear.

Graviafan: While originally wasn't planning to, I just can't stand to split Juvia from Gray. I'll look for a way to add her (Jeez, this story almost seems like it's about Gray x harem right?)

Yuriski-1st: I'm afraid Angel is gonna stick for a while, I have great plans for her.

Tha Golden Boy: Thanks for your review, now I know what to do. I like the way you think by the way.

Hinata3487: C'mon! Lucy and Loke pairing isn't that scary, at least be glad to see Juvia back in the game.

Bosstsuna27: I'll admit Cana is weak, but as you can see on this chapter she is willing to do anything to win, even risking getting on Gray's bad side. Lucy is proving to be stronger as of the latest manga chapters though.

Max Tiger: The love triangle (or quadrangle) will take its time to develop. While Cana had a lead over Ultear and Juvia, after what she did she is back to square one as far Gray is concerned. Stay tuned for more.

Ryvius: once again, thanks for a very good review. By the way, this will also be a Gray x Ultear.

Next chapter will continue the exam, Grimoire Heart will appear and we'll also have the fateful meeting between Natsu and Zeref (Just between us, I think Zeref is either: A) Natsu's father, B) Brother or C) Friend from waaay back. (Which in turn explains the mystery of Natsu's real age). As for Natsu's sword, Yamato, more will be unraveled next time.

I'll start writing next chapter soon, until then feel free to review and ask whatever doubt you might have. Also, for those following the manga, got any suggestions for when Flare finally makes an appearance on the story?

Demonwithasoul