^_^ I AM LOVED! ^U^ You are very nice to me you know, I adore you all VERY muchly!

You know the drill, Fairy Tail still belongs to Hiro Mashima. Because, though it would be 1,000,000,000,000,000% NaLu with some GaLe, it would probably suck because I can't draw very well. =3=

And I'm glad you all liked perverted Natsu. I like him too! When/if you review, tell me if you want to see more of sweet&cute Natsu or pervy Natsu.

-Lucy-

I glare at Sting and he smirks back.

"You've gotta do better than that."

"Why would I be using hand-to-hand combat against a dragon?"

He shrugs. "Dunno. Could come in handy. Besides we're just warming up!"

I growl and he laughs at me. I was not having a good day. First I had to walk for two and a half hours hours just to get here, uphill no less, then I only had a ten minute break before Sting announced that we were going to begin training. It had been an hour since we started hand-to hand, and according to Sting, I still hadn't mastered the basics. To be perfectly honest, I didn't care. My hair was a complete mess, the make-up I had put on this morning had been sweated away. My halter was ripped and my shorts had grass stains on them. Yeah, not a good day so far.

-Laxus-

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu launches yet another attack at me. Kid's got fight, I'll give him that. But he's so stupid. Yet another reason why he and Lucy go well together. He's dumb, she's smart. Though, he's doing better than he usually does, maybe it was because of the bet we had made earlier.

##############
"You win against me, I won't interfere with you and Lucy anymore. And I'll keep either Sting or Rogue away from her."

"All right! I'm all fired up!"

##############

Idiot.

-Gajeel-

I pant and stare at the little kid who was giving me so much trouble. She wasn't a very good fighter, but she was smart and fast. She used her magic to propel herself away from my attacks, then switched the direction so I got hit with a blast of it. Fighting with Salamander was completely different to fighting this kid. Salamander mainly threw random punches and hoped he got lucky. Relying on brute force and intimidation, his fights were often won by a hair. Wendy had a totally different style. Rarely attacking, using our surroundings to her advantage. Scaling trees, dropping on top of me from above, making good use of her small size, she hid behind foul-smelling shrubs. She moved quickly and would only launch an attack if she knew it would hit. Her movement were quick and precise. Graceful and deliberate, she never missed. She was good at keeping quiet too, I never heard her until she was a few feet away and by then it was too late. She was lucky that she was fighting me though. In a real battle, her enemy was less likely to be so careful around her. When I hit her, I hit her just hard enough so she could feel it. Mavis knows if I hurt this kid, Lucy would 'Lucy Kick' me into next week.

-Rogue-

I knew the others were probably battling it out right now, but Cobra and I were taking a different approach. Instead of fighting we were meditating. Cobra had mentioned that he was unable to sustain attacks for a lengthy period of time and Lucy had volunteered one of her spirits, Capricorn, I think his name was. It was interesting how much control one had over their magic, while sitting still. I was able to immerse myself in shadows completely, yet remain totally in command. A few feet away, I could feel Cobra's poison. The whole point of this exercise was to fill the clearing with our magic, without overriding the other. It was more complex than you might think. You had to fill the space with your magic, yet keep it at a level, where it wasn't going to hurt anyone. One wrong move on my part and Cobra could die. Same goes for me. If he mucks it up. Then I'd be done for. And I'd never get to give Lucy the other half of her present.

-Lucy-(A/N: Lily and Fro are not here. Lily's gone to teach Fro how to fight while in chibi form)

Another hour later and I have aching bruises and stinging scratches all over my body. I'm colder than before and my coughing is only getting worse.

"You're pretty useless."

"Shut up!" I say, charging at him. He catches me fist easily and uses it to bring me closer. He twists me around painfully, his front to my back, and holds his fingers to my throat. He makes a whooshing noise.

"You just died." He informs me.

"But you're not even teaching me!" I struggle, but he shifts so my legs are between his and he steps lightly on my feet, making it impossible to move.

"I'm supposed to be training, not teaching."

"Wouldn't it be easier to train if you had a partner who actually knew what they were doing?" "Don't you know anything? It's best to learn by experience."

I blow up my cheeks and look away from him. He lets me go but doesn't move from behind me.

"Okay. You want me to teach you? I will." He puts a hand on my hip and the other curls my left hand into a fist. He brings my hand to my waist, palm facing upwards and he slaps my wrist when I attempt to tuck my thumb inside my fist. When he's satisfied, he switches hands, his left now on my hip and repeats the process with my right hand.

"When you throw a punch, move your hips with your fist, you'll get more power that way." He grips my hip harder and pulls it back along with my fist, when he makes me punch, his hand thrusts my hip forward. I automatically retract it back, slamming back into his pelvis, and he makes a sort of strangled moan, for reasons I don't comprehend.

"Good." His voice isn't very loud, but I can hear him all the same. All traces of cockiness are gone, leaving a gentle man behind. He repeats the actions and I find myself thinking of him and how he can make my body move without really trying. His fingers move expertly along my arms, trailing heat from where they touched my skin. After a few minutes, he lets go and steps around me, so we're facing one another.

"Punch me." He says.

"What?"

"Punch me."

"Um… Why?"

He sighs. "You've already got a pretty good kick, but your punches are sloppy. Wendy could throw a better punch than you."

The way he says it is like it's the most obvious thing in the world. He's not trying to hurt me with his words, but they did hurt. I knew I wasn't very good at fighting. I never had been, I hadn't ever needed to be, because I wasn't stupid, and I rarely got into danger. Of course that changed when I joined Fairy Tail, but there I had Natsu, and with him around, I wouldn't have to do much. Especially when Erza and Gray joined up too. And if I was alone, I could always call on one of my spirits, so I hadn't really ever thought I needed to learn. My 'Lucy Kick' was something I had taught myself when I had dropped my keys once and had a pervert chasing after me. I perfected it soon after entering Fairy Tail.

"Lucy?" Sting steps closer and waves his hand in front of my face. "You okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm okay. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Huh?

"You heard me. What were you thinking about?"

I frown. I didn't have to tell him my insecurities. He didn't need to know. But… I wanted to tell him, I felt compelled to answer his question. "I'm not very strong." I say. He stares at me with confused eyes, then they widen in understanding. "I'm not fast, I'm practically useless without my keys and…" I stop. If I were to list all the things I didn't like about myself, we'd be here all day. Sting frowns and shrugs.

"I'm not gonna tell you that you're the strongest wizard I've ever met, or some bullshit like that, 'coz I'm not a lier." I open my mouth to retort, but he silences me with a finger. "So here's what I think. I think you're stronger than Yukino, if you guys were to fight, she'd lose. I think you're better than you give yourself credit for. You say you're not strong or fast, but that's why we're training. So you get better. Not just you, but all of us. And the whole, 'being useless without your keys' crap is true, but that's only because you're a holder type wizard. You don't need to be able to do stuff on your own, because your spirits are always there. And if they're not, you've got Natsu or that Ice-prick-whose-name-I-forget, or Titania. And if they aren't around, then you can always count on me!" He puffs out his chest slightly and jabs a finger at himself. "So you see? There's always ways to make yourself better, stronger, faster, smarter. You just need to find out what you want and figure out how to make it happen."

I stare. How? How is it that you, Sting 'Cocky Bastard' Eucliffe, can say the words I needed to hear. How can you say what you see in such a way, that it makes my heart race. Insulting and praising me at the same time, yet giving me that extra hope I needed. How did you know that's what I needed?

"Anything else you don't like about yourself?" His question is totally serious, he's not trying to be rude, he just wants to know what I think about myself. I decide to test him, see what he really thinks.

"I'm pretty stupid."

He laughs. "When you're dumber than Salamander, then I'll call you stupid. Okay?"

"I'm shy."

This time he raises an eyebrow and snorts. "With the clothes you wear? Are you serious?"

"I'm not as pretty or as cute as the other girls in the guild." My eyes widen. That one just slipped out. I hadn't told anyone that before. It was my biggest… Secret I guess. Erza and Mira where both drop-dead gorgeous, Juvia was beautiful in her own way, with her blue eyes and quirky personality. Cana and Evergreen were the type of girls that other envied, Levy was cute and often received double-takes and Wendy was just down-right cute. Sting's smile slides off his face. He moves forward, closing the distance between us in a few steps. He rests his arms on my shoulders and stares at me.

"You are an idiot if you think that." He whispers. His hands slide down my arms, then shift to rest on my hips. This time, instead of fearing him, I welcomed his touch, I craved it. I couldn't tell if it was because I needed affection and Sting was there, of if it was Sting himself. Regardless, when his fingers tightened, a small sigh escapes my lips.

"You're not cute or pretty Lucy. You are beautiful. Perfect." My eyelids lowers and I step into him, surprising both of us. His breath warms me and I tilt my face upwards.

"Lucy." My name slips through his teeth and I shiver with delight. When Natsu called my name, it felt comfortable. But the way it rolled off Sting's tongue, it sounded sensual. "I'm going to kiss you." I don't push him away, I want him to do it. It's like I was possessed, I reach up and tangle on hand in his hair and use the other to grip his shirt, pulling him closer to me, begging him to kiss me.

I am a troll! HAHAHAHA! I couldn't think of how to end this, so I ended it here! ^_^ Please don't kill me. I want you guys to do something before the next chapter. Vote! Aye sir! I have ANOTHER poll on my profile; Does Sting kiss Lucy?

O.O It's to be a Blind Poll, and I won't start writing till you've voted or whatever. And who liked the title of this chapter? I thought it was pretty clever. I amuse myself ^_^