* I think I'm a good writer, but I'm not good enough to write Fairy Tail or Vampire Knight just yet, so I will leave that to the professionals.

General POV

"The rules for the demonstration are as follows," Kaname said if a firm voice so everyone could hear.

The entire Night Class was gathered in a clearing a small distance from the school and a greater distance from the Sun Dorm so they would be less likely to attract attention from the Day Class students.

Lucy hadn't expected Kaname to agree to the magic battle demonstration so easily, but he had seemed pleased with the idea. Then she had thought Head Master Cross would be against it, but he was there with a camera to record the entire thing, jumping around in excitement for the battle to begin. Even Yuuki and Zero were there to watch. But this was more than just a demonstration for her. She wanted to prove to herself that she wasn't defenseless against vampires, that she could fight back and be safe. If she could do that, then maybe she wouldn't be scared anymore.

"Firstly, this is a demonstration and not a life or death battle, so there will be no attempts to kill each other," Kaname said as he looked from Aidou to Lucy, who were in the middle of the clearing while the rest of the Night Class were lined up around the edges. "Secondly, there is to be no outside interference, Lucy is only permitted to use her magic and Hanabusa is only permitted to use his powers.

"Third, because of our ability to heal putting Lucy at a disadvantage, a handicap has been put in place. If Hanabusa attempts to or succeeds in biting or partaking in Lucy's blood, he will automatically loose and the match is over. So this will also be a test of control over his instincts. And finally, I am the judge for this demonstration and I will decide who wins and if any rules have been broken. Are there any questions?"

There was silence throughout the crowd as they looked on with abated breath. Giving a nod, Kaname walked to the sidelines and looked out at the vampire and the mage in the clearing. "The demonstration will now begin."

Neither Lucy or Aidou wanted to make the first move, they were watching each other.

"What's wrong, Lucy? I thought you were looking forward to this," Aidou said, trying to bate her into attacking. She didn't fall for it as she just continued to smile at him.

Trying to appear unfazed, Aidou placed both hands behind his head and arched his back to appear as if he was stretching. "What do you say we make this a little more interesting?"

"What did you have in mind?" She asked him, watching his body for any sudden movements.

"I really liked those cookies you made today but I didn't like that you shared them. So when I win, you have to bake me a dessert every day for two weeks and no one can have them but me," he grinned at her.

Lucy was barely able to hold back her giggle. After telling Aidou what she had planned, she had only let him have one more cookie before sending him out of the kitchen. That night on the way to class, she had given bundles of cookies to Takuma, Hikaru, Yuuki and Zero as a thank you for helping her while she was getting past her fears. Takuma and Yuuki had smiled brightly and thanked her. Hikaru had thanked as well but didn't smile, though she had noticed a quirk at the corner of his mouth. Zero had looked surprised but didn't say anything as he put the wrapped bundle of cookies in his pocket. Needless to say, Aidou had huffed when she hadn't given him one.

"That's not too difficult, I agree." Then she was grinning at him, in a way that made him nervous. "I'm sure that you've noticed that I didn't bring much in the way of clothes with me from my world and I don't like wasting my magic just to have Virgo bring me clothes from the Celestial World. So, when I win, you are going to take me shopping and you are not allowed to complain about it."

He grinned back at her. That was easy enough and he could afford it, plus it would mean that he'd get to spend time alone with her. "I think we have a deal."

"Don't you dare hold back on me," she told him as she took her stance.

He smiled maliciously at her. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Just as he was talking, Lucy felt the air cool around her and she instantly dove to the right and rolled to avoid the ice that had attempted to capture her.

I thought it was him that used the ice attack before, Lucy thought as she kept moving to avoid the ice that was trailing after her. But this is different from the way Gray uses ice magic. Gray make objects, Aidou freezes everything that he touches or that is touching the ground… A plan quickly formed in her head as she was diving to avoid capture again.

Aidou had her on the run and he liked it. If he kept this up, she would get tired soon and he'd have the win! But he could tell that Lucy wouldn't go down without a fight. She would be attacking soon and he was prepared for it.

"Open, Gate of the Bull, Taurus!" The ornate circle appeared in front of her and Aidou was careful not to be distracted by the flash of gold light as a huge creature that looked like a cross between a man and a cow appeared, swinging a giant axe at the spot he had been standing. He had barely jumped out of the way in time to avoid being cut open.

"You better mooove at of my way," the spirit grinned as he continued to advance on Aidou.

He sent his ice to capture the bull spirit, but it simply smashed the advancing ice with its axe before coming after him again. The blond vampire hadn't expected this, but then Lucy had a lot of keys and from what he understood, each of those keys was for a different spirit. That means that she doesn't just have one type of magic, she has a lot! I have to take her out now or keep on the move until she runs out of magic!

Careful of the axe, Aidou advanced on the spirit. He dodged the swinging axe at the last moment before grabbing its arm and freezing its entire body in place. He could have made it burst like he had done before, but considering how angry that had made Lucy the last time, he decided against it. A moment later, it didn't seem to matter, since the spirit disappeared from inside the ice.

He looked away to locate Lucy, realizing too late that she was practically on top of him. Her booted foot connected to his jaw and sent him flying back and rolling until he slammed into a tree. He spat out a mouth full of blood before looking up at the other blonde and grinned like an idiot. She bakes, she's physically strong, and she knows how to fight. I just might be falling for this girl.

Jumping to his feet, he ran at her as fast as he could to try to catch her off guard. She was dodging his attacks too well for him to get a good grip so he could freeze her, but he was still making contact. Each time he touched her, he was able to cool her muscles which served to slow her down a great deal.

Just as he was about to grab her and put an end to the fight, she pulled another key from her belt. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!"

Aidou didn't have a chance to see the spirit she summoned before he received a face full of sand that threw him away from her and had him rolling on the ground. Giving his head a shake, he got the sand out of his eyes, nose and mouth before looking up at her and scowling. "Getting sand in a man's eyes is just rude!"

She scowled right back at him as the spirit disappeared and her hands rubbed over her chilled skin. "And a gentleman isn't supposed to let a lady be cold, so I guess that makes us even!"

And just like that, he was laughing again and chasing after her with his ice. Lucy was moving a little slower than before because of her cold muscles and realized that it wouldn't be long before he caught her if the fight kept going this way. She was pulling out Loke's key just as she felt her right foot start to freeze over. She didn't even have to call out for him; Loke felt the urgency and appeared beside her, punching the ice to break her foot free.

"Nice timing," she smiled at him, giving her foot a shake to try to get some heat back into it. When she tried to put weight on it, she nearly fell. The ice that had captured her foot had done a lot more damage than she had thought at first, meaning that she would no longer be able to run.

Loke was grinning as his fists began to glow brighter. "Anything for you, princess," he said as he charged at Aidou. The blond vampire started countering Loke's attacks, that's when Lucy pulled out her whip and activated it.

Kaname had been watching the demonstration with great interest. He knew Hanabusa's abilities and could tell that he wasn't holding back. Lucy seemed to be putting her best effort forward as well. He had known that the mage was powerful, but he hadn't expected her to last so long against the vampire. The way she worked with her spirits was something to be admired. It was as though they knew exactly what she required of them the moment she summoned them. But when she pulled her whip from her belt and he saw it illuminate with blue and gold light, he was taken but surprise.

He watched as the spirit Loke continued to engage Hanabusa, distracting him while Lucy lashed out with her whip and wrap around his left wrist. The blonde vampire barely had time to register what was happening before the mage pulled as hard as she could, throwing him to the ground and allowing the spirit to get in a solid hit.

Very interesting, she may be more helpful than I had originally intended, Kaname thought as he glanced over at Yuuki.

Takuma couldn't believe his eyes. Never in his life had he ever thought that someone who wasn't a vampire would able to keep up with a vampire's power. Even some of the best vampire hunters couldn't do what Lucy was doing. It left him wondering if she even needed Hikaru or him around to protect her. It amazed him even more how little damage she had taken. Sure, he knew that Hanabusa wasn't trying to kill her, but he was still trying to capture her and had only gotten close to succeeding once.

Zero couldn't help but smirk every time Lucy or one of her spirits got a good hit on the vampire she was fighting, especially since it was the same vampire that had taken Yuuki's blood and scared Lucy. He hadn't expected her to be so skilled in combat or to utilize her spirits so well. Just seeing how she fought and moved made him want to spar with her too. Then when she pulled out that whip and it started to glow with her magic, he gasped. The sensation that it was giving off, reminded him of the weapons that vampire hunters used. Where did she get that?

Aidou rolled away from the spirit as he coughed up another mouthful of blood. Now he was starting to get annoyed. His jaw was sore from the punch he just took and his wrist felt like it was burning from where her whip had touched his skin. He would admit that Lucy was strong, but he didn't want to lose to her. Unable to hold back anymore, he let his power pulse inside of him as everything around him began to freeze.

Lucy felt the change in temperature and saw everything begin to freeze over. If she was going to win this, she would have to pullout the big guns. She quickly closed Loke's gate to send him back to the Celestial World and pulled out her next key. "Open, Gate of the Twins, Gemini!" The two small spirits appeared next to Lucy, floating in the air. "Quick, transform into me! It's time to end this demonstration!"

The two spirits disappeared in a cloud of smoke for a moment before reappearing as Lucy. The temperature continued to drop around them as the two Lucys touched hands and closed their eyes. Every vampire felt the power levels rise in the area, emanating from both Lucy and Aidou, and started to become nervous about just what might happen as the Lucys began chanting.

"Survey the skies, open the heavens, celestial bodies far and wide, show me your radiant countenance."

Aidou felt the spike in Lucy's power as soon as she and her double began chanting, what he guessed was, a spell. It made him nervous, but he kept pushing his own power as well. Just a little more and she won't be able to escape me!

"O Tetrabiblos, I am the ruler of the stars. The planets are aligned."

Head Master Cross watched in awe as he saw Lucy's magic begin to form around her and Hanabusa. The area became darker and then brighter as it appeared to change to an astral-scape from outer space with orbs that looked like planets manifesting around her. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sure, he had been able to tell that she was powerful that night in his office, but this was beyond anything he had ever dreamed!

"Throw wide the raging gate. All 88 constellations… Shine!"

Everyone who could see either Lucys' face gasped as they opened their eyes and saw that they were glowing gold and radiating so much power that it was difficult to be near them. Aidou noticed the change as well, but it was too late. His powers lashed out in a shockwave of freezing air, completely enveloping the mage.

"Urano Metria!"

Just as she finished the spell the orbs shot out from every direction and into the sky, only to curve around and fall to Earth where Aidou was standing, unable to dodge the attack.

There were a few tense moments where no one could see exactly what happened due to the dust that Lucy's spell had kicked up. By the time the dirt and dust had settled, the vampires were stunned to see that Aidou was lying on the ground and barely conscious; the second Lucy had disappeared, and Lucy was still standing but she was shaky on her feet, panting heavily and shivering from the cold.

"The demonstration is now over," Kaname said as he stepped forward. "That was an amazing display by both mage and vampire, to be sure. But in this instance, the winner is Lucy."

She heard Yuuki and Head Master Cross cheer for her victory while the vampires clapped and looked at each other in amazement. Lucy also saw Zero clapping and smiling at her. Wow, he's actually really handsome when he smiles.

When she looked over to Aidou to congratulate him and saw that he hadn't gotten up yet, she got worried. When she tried to take a step in his direction, her right foot refused to hold her and she fell to the ground. Takuma and Hikaru came to help her, but she waved them off as she climbed back to her feet and hopped until she reached the blond vampires side. His uniform was in pieces and his body was bruised from the fight. His blue eyes were wide and staring at the sky as she leaned over him with a worried expression now her face. "Are you okay, Aidou?"

He didn't mean to, but he bared his fangs at her in annoyance. "You just beat me up for your demonstration and you're asking me if I'm alright? Are you insane or something?"

She stared at him for a moment before she started laughing and giggling. "Maybe I am. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm not scared of you anymore and I think you helped me get over my fear of vampires."

Despite losing, hearing that did make him feel a little better. Aidou sat up as she leaned back; he cracked his neck and rotated his shoulders to ease some of the tension out of his body. "That thing you did at the end, if you had started off with that I wouldn't have had a chance. Why didn't you?"

She looked away from him toward Head Master Cross; the man was watching the playback of the fight with great interest. "I only use that spell as a last resort, it takes a lot of magic to use it and leaves me drained afterwards." As if to prove her point, Lucy tried to stand and got light headed. She would have fallen to the ground if Aidou hadn't caught her; apparently, vampires bounced back quickly.

She was also still shivering from the powers he had used on her right before Urano Metria had hit him. Being in his arms was surprising warm though, she could already feel her skin start to warm up and her shivers dying down, so she didn't bother trying to get away from him.

"Hanabusa," the two blondes turned to look at Kaname. "You did very well. Take Lucy back the dorm, both of you need your rest."

"Yes, Lord Kaname," he said as he inclined his head. Aidou wrapped his arm more firmly around Lucy's waist and moved her right arm so that it was draped over his shoulders before grabbing her right hand to hold her arm in place. He saw that Lucy was blushing and was about to tease her, but then he felt the stares. Or more specifically, he felt Hikaru, Takuma and Zero staring at him and if he didn't know better, he could swear that they were jealous of him. Ignoring the other three guys, he and Lucy began making their way back to the Moon Dorm.

"By the way, that whip that you used on me, was that a vampire hunter's weapon?" He asked her as they limped along.

She shook her head. "Nope, that's the Eridanus Fleuve d'Etoiles, a stretchable whip from the Celestial River in the Celestial World. Virgo gave it to me a while back. Why do you ask?"

"Strange, it felt like one of their weapons," he said as his brow creased.

That made Lucy curious, but she was too tired to really think it over.

It felt like a long time before she and Aidou were entering the dorm. When it came time to go up the stairs, he had to carry her up and to her room. All she wanted to do now was have a nice hot bath to warm her cold skin. When he set her back on her feet, she was relieved to see that she was able to stand, with a little effort at least.

He was just about to leave when Lucy called to him, he turn and lifted his hand in time to catch something she tossed to him. When he saw what it was, he couldn't help but grin. She had just given him a bundle of cookies like the ones she had given Takuma, Hikaru, Yuuki and Zero. Looking up, she saw that she was smiling at him. "Thanks a lot, Luce!"

Suddenly, her eyes went wide and the happy expression she'd had before fell to one of sadness. He didn't have a chance to ask her what was wrong, because as quickly as that sad expression had appeared, it disappeared. "Don't forget our bet, Aidou! You owe me a shopping spree for new clothes, and no complaining!"

"Fine with me," he smiled at her. "Get some rest, tomorrow is Sunday so we can go into town early before it gets too bright outside."

"Won't the sun bother you?" She asked, surprising him with the concern he heard in her voice.

"Not that much, I'll be fine so long as I'm not constantly in the sun."

"Alright then, I'm going to take a bath and get to sleep. I'll see you in the morning; just knock on my door to wake me up about an hour before you want to go into town so I have time to get ready. Sweet sleep, Aidou." After that, she shut her door, leaving him alone in the hallway.

He couldn't keep himself from smiling as he returned to the room he shared with Akatsuki. Both of them were still suspended, so he was lying on his bed and reading a book. When the orange haired vampire heard him enter, he glanced up at him and his eyes went wide.

"What happened to you?" He asked, setting his book aside.

"That demonstration with Lucy was a lot more intense than I thought it would be. She actually beat me," Aidou said, not bothering to hide the amazement in his voice.

Akatsuki's eyes went a fraction wider before he hid his shock behind his usual mask of indifference. "I didn't think that her magic was that powerful, unless you were holding back."

He shook his head. "She told me not to. And it turns out, that whip she carries around with her, can do some serious damage to us. It's like a vampire hunter's weapon, but she said that one of her spirits gave it to her a while back."

"Considering that she had it with her when she arrived, she's probably telling the truth."

"Agreed," Aidou said as he sat on his bed and started eating the cookies that Lucy had given him. "But at the same time, it makes me wonder. The weapons that the hunters use all have a certain power to them and we have no idea where that power comes from. Maybe she's connected to it somehow and just doesn't know."

"Possibly, but that sounds like something that a hunter would know. If you're really curious about it, go talk to Head Master Cross," Akatsuki said as he picked his book back up to continue reading.

Aidou kept thinking about that as he ate. Maybe I will ask him about it. I know that Cross was recording the demonstration; he had to have seen it too. And if he doesn't know, he'll probably know who to ask.

A/N: I hope you all liked the fight, I tried to make them as evenly matched as possible, but I figured that Lucy would have a slight advantage seeing as how she works with Gray. The next chapter will be the shopping trip with Aidou and Lucy! I hope you're as excited to read it as I am to write it!

A/N 2: The race to see who will be paired with Lucy is coming to a close now that I have included interactions with all three candidates! You have a very short window of time to get your final votes in! I will wait until the chapter after next to close everything up, so let me know what you want to see before it's too late!