[Re-written 03-31-22]

Welcome back!
Just fun and games ahead for this chapter, before we launch into the next major arc.

~Onward

9

-Truth or Dare-

Scarlet hair fanned out in the air as Erza ducked under Natsu's right hook and drew her elbow back to retaliate with a powerful uppercut toward his gut. Natsu thrust his hands down in an X, blocking her at the wrist to force her arm back down. He drove his knee upward, aiming an opportune strike for her chin when she was rocked off balance from the momentum of his block. Unsurprisingly, Erza recovered quickly. Pivoting on her foot, she twirled around him and grasped his shoulder, drawing his body back as her own knee came up attempting to connect with his spine. Natsu bent into his knees and leaped into the air, flipping over the Requip mage in an arch. He landed behind her, skipping back to get some distance between them again.

Erza shouted an approval for his impressive dodge, and he answered her praise by launching his next attack with a fast kick toward her ribs. Blocking with an armoured shoulder, the redhead snapped her forearm up around his shin, locking his leg in place. Natsu's eyes widened with a snap of worry as her other arm came up, preparing to slam her elbow into his upper leg. Reflexively, he pushed down into the arm bracing his leg and jumped off his anchor foot, planting a hand on the ground and swung the other leg up over the one she had trapped to finally land a powerful kick against her breast plate, hard enough to dent it. A sharp gasp escaped her as she was sent skidding back.

Erza paused long enough to glance down at the large dent in her armour before looking up at the Fire Slayer with a widening smirk. The two vanished in a flash, meeting in the center of the training field, both throwing simultaneous high kicks that connected at their shins and consequently sent a gust of wind out in all directions.

Their onlookers all brought up hands or turned away to brace against the wind that blew through the crowd.

All of this happened in a flurry of strikes, moving so quickly it was nearly impossible for the average eye to follow. "Holy crap!" Lucy exclaimed, "what is with these two, they aren't even using magic yet!"

Beside her Gray grunted in irritation, as impressed as he was, he always hated getting reminders that his rival held back on him when they sparred. Watching him fight Erza made it painfully apparent.

The two mages leapt back a couple times, skidding to opposite edges of the field again. They shared wild grins as they steadied their breathing and sized each other up for the real match.

"Alright Red, I'm getting serious!"

"No more holding back, Natsu!"

Earlier

It had been about a week since they had returned from the allied mission, and it had been a totally typical morning in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Lucy had found herself at a table with Natsu next to her, grumbling over his boredom, Erza, flipping through Magnolia's local paper, and Wendy sipping a smoothie, across from them.

Lucy and Wendy were observing the blue and white cats across the hall as Happy pulled out all the stops to try to woo his crush, once again. Wendy gushed about how adorable the pair of cats were, and told Lucy that she thought Carla might be wearing down. Apparently, her partner had been less rude to the 'Tom Cat,' as she'd endearingly named him and even perked up when he appeared. Though, Wendy had added, she doubted Carla would willingly admit that any time soon.

"Hey Natsu, where is Haru this morning?" Wendy asked the older dragon slayer. Natsu's onyx eyes shifted up to meet hers without moving from his lazy posture.

With half his face buried in folded arms, he grumbled, "Ocean. He's getting in some training."

"I thought you two usually trained together?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Yeah, usually. But due to the nature of Dragon Slayer magic, manipulating larger and larger amounts of our base elements is the best way to challenge our magic containers. It helps increase magical capacity and endurance... For Haru, that's the ocean," Natsu explained. "And I have no desire to be drowned," he added bitterly.

"Sounds like theres a story there," Lucy said mirthfully, gaining the fire mage's irritation. Her teasing grin remained firmly in place even as she changed the subject, "anyway, I never thought of training like that before."

Erza peered over her paper, interest apparently captured by the topic of conversation. Meeting Natsu's gaze, she said, "You know, I could use a good training session myself. How about it Natsu? Do you want to spar?"

A large toothy grin spread across his face at the suggestion, "Now we're talking!" he cheered, jumping to his feet. "I'm all fired up!"

The redhead mirrored his excitement with a grin of her own. From what Lucy gathered, the two didn't spar seriously all that often, so the idea warranted the excitement. Erza stood, gesturing for him to follow her to the training field out behind the guild, so they wouldn't have to worry about wrecking the hall. Lucy and Wendy exchanged a look of interest before taking off, hot on their friends' heels, and when Cana realized what was happening, she was announcing the match and taking bets.

Soon, most of the guild had poured out back to circle around and observe the friendly fight while Erza and Natsu stretched and shouted taunts at one another. According to Cana, the bets were split almost evenly right down the middle. The fight would go to whoever lost focus first, if their past matches were any indication. Makarov had even followed them all out with a beer still in hand and took up a spot at the center of the crowd to officiate the fight and keep his destructive brats from getting too overzealous.

Now

Natsu's stance dropped as he clenched his fists on either side of his ribcage and his entire body erupted in flames. Across the field his opponent requipped in blinding light, revealing the red and black ensemble of her flame empress amour. She brandished a long crystal blade with teal fins decorating its hilt, with both hands, holding it in front of her at the ready.

Gray whistled, "Shit, Erza means business," he stated in mild surprise. Lucy and Wendy turned questioning looks on him, being unfamiliar with Erza's magic capabilities. "Flame Empress Armour cuts the effectiveness of fire-based attacks by 50%," the ice mage began, both girls nodding in interest, "but Erza combined it with the blade form her Sea Empress Armour." Lucy's eyes widened in realization as they shifted away from Gray and back to the field, darting between the two S Class who had yet to move.

"Now we're talking!" Natsu shouted from across the field. He dragged one foot behind him into a wider stance, extending one arm forward, palm up and curled his fingers a couple times at her, "give me everything you got!"

Grinning wildly, Erza disappeared in a flash of red. She reappeared next to Natsu and launched a brutal roundhouse kick into his shoulder that he didn't have time to react to. Skipping back, she slashed her sword through the open air, sending a towering wave of water to barrel down on him. The attack never landed though. Fire burst off the dragon slayer as he spun on his heel and cut the wave in half with a fiery spin kick.

Steam filled the air around him instantly. The crowd awed in surprise as Natsu taunted, "You'll have to do better than that, don't forget, I spar with a water dragon daily."

"Hey, when did Natsu achieve his S Class?" Lucy wondered out loud, leaning toward Gray's side to nudge his shoulder. Gray shifted eyes, narrowed in displeasure, to the blonde next to him and huffed in irritation. Not his favourite subject.

"Last year," he stated flatly, as thought that would be enough to satisfy her curiosity. The expression on her face told him he wasn't getting away with such a simple response. Sighing, he continued, "it was a smaller examination. Gramps only nominated four mages last year, Natsu partnered up with Haru and they took the exam by storm. It wasn't even close." He dropped his chin onto a fist and clicked his tongue in annoyance, "this year will be my year though. I know Gramps will give me a chance this time. Just watch, I'm going to catch up to them."

Lucy nodded eagerly, raising a determined fist in front of her chest, "You'll have to get through me! I'm going to give it everything I've got too," she announced with conviction. Gray returned her grin, welcoming the challenge.

Back on the training ground, it appeared Erza had given up on taking Natsu down with water-based attacks. Her Sea Empress sword just didn't pack the punch that Haru's water magic did and Natsu had been deflecting her attacks without breaking a sweat. Switching strategies, she requipped to her Black Wing Armour and threw herself back into a head-on assault. Erza struck with a barrage of precise slashes of her sword which he danced around with practiced ease. The breeze off each strike wizzed by his face, tousling already wild pink bangs and the ends of his scarf, he barely noticed.

Countering the next swing with a flame infused palm up into the wrist of her sword hand, Natsu forced the blade up to open up her defence. He then quickly followed that with a well-timed Fire Dragon's Talon into her ribs. The armour shattered around her ribs as her body was thrown back with the force. Grunting in pain, she dug in the toe edge of her boots and managed to stay on her feet.

"Fire Dragon's roar!"

Just as Erza recovered, she was met with a full power roar barrelling down on her. She threw her body to the side and shoulder rolled out of the way, coming to a stop on one knee. Her armour glowed again, and she sprang forward again in her Purgatory Armour this time, swiping a large sword on an angle down toward Natsu's shoulder.

"Shit!" he cursed loudly, attempting to jump back but not quite clearing the full attack. He took a shallow gash across his chest to the bottom of his rib cage and caught his balance just in time to take a sharp kick, straight to his chest. Natsu was sent careening across the field, crashing into the ground and rolled further still. The large cloud of dust his landing kicked up obscured his location and consequently, shocked cries sounded as a group of onlookers were nearly bowled over by the fire mage. When the dust settled, Natsu and some of their guildmates were sprawled around the ground from where they'd been forced to dodge unexpectedly.

Erza slammed the tip of her sword into the ground, her body remaining tense as she eyed his unmoving form, knowing he wasn't likely down for the count yet. Sure enough, Natsu swung both legs through the air and flipped back to his feet, even as their downed comrades groaned around him. "Damn, nice shot!" he shouted. He frowned at the remaining scraps of his vest and tore it off, tossing it carelessly behind him before running a finger along the large cut across his torso, humming in interest.

His eyes shifted back to meet Erza's again as they both panted in exertion, neither willing to concede the fight. Natsu bent into his knees and kicked off the ground to shoot forward, propelled far faster by his flames. "Fire Dragon's iron fist!" Erza spun to the side, narrowly missing the punch, but Natsu dropped into a low spin kick, sweeping her legs out from under her. He sprung up from his crouched position, flipping over her and delivered a fiery hammer kick right into her middle before she could get back to her feet, denting another armour.

Erza coughed as her body was driven into the ground beneath her, and Makarov swept a giant hand out separating the two. "This match is over!" he declared.

The crowd of Fairy Tail mages blinked between the master and the two S Class. 'Who the fuck won then?' seemed to be the collective thought. It was clear the rivals still had plenty of fight in them and were rearing to go even though they both stopped their advances, respecting the master's call. Erza's armour vanished, returning her to a blouse and blue skirt. She remained on the ground, but pushed herself up into a seated position, bringing her other arm around to rub her ribs. Natsu held a hand out and pulled her to her feet.

"This match goes to you, Natsu, where does that put us now?"

"Well, you won the last two... so I think we're even again," he laughed, scratching the back of his head with a wide toothy grin.

Cana moved around the crowd collecting money from people, taunting them as she went. Wendy darted over to the two fighters to check their injuries, just as the brunette came to a stop in front of Gray with a smug look. "Pay up, sucker!" she said with a smirk. He grumbled as he forked over a handful of jewel, and Cana laughed more as she began distributing the winnings to those that bet on the fire mage. Lucy strolled over to her comrades and observed as Wendy's hands, glowing blue, moved over the long gash in Natsu's chest, sealing the wound.

"You two are incredible!" Lucy declared in awe. They both turned to her with a thanks as the Sky Slayer moved to place a magic infused hand on the front and back of Erza's ribs.

"More like reckless!" Carla reprimanded as she flew over and landed next to her partner.

"Natsuuu! You were awesome!"

"Thanks little buddy."

"Now I wish I hadn't bet against you."

"You did what?!"

The crowd had begun dispersing already, revealing Haru approaching the. He stopped in front of the, hands placed on his hips and offered everyone a greeting before fixing a blank stare on the sparring duo. "You know, you two are so noisy that I knew you were fighting from multiple blocks away at the beach..." he stated dryly. Natsu and Erza exchanged a look and the former burst out laughing. The redhead stifled her own laughter behind a hand, trying to retain some composure as Haru rolled his eyes at them grumbling about the pair ruining his peaceful swim.

Lucy squealed, clapping her hands together as she bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet, drawing her companions' collective confusion. "We should go to the beach!" she announced with a bright smile. "It's a beautiful day and we deserve some fun! We've continued busting our butts even after the whole Oración Seis fiasco."

The boys exchanged a look. Everyone knew the Water Slayer would never turn down more time in the ocean, and Gray just shrugged in agreement. The redhead pursed her lips in consideration and Lucy observed her nervously until the Knight's body glowed and was instantly clad in a deep purple bikini. "Wonderful idea Lucy! Off we go boys!" she commanded, pointing down the street toward the beach as if it was completely normal to walk through the streets in skimpy swimwear. Lucy sweat dropped, the corner of her mouth twitching at her friend's oblivious enthusiasm.

Natsu gave Lucy a wide toothy grin, "Great idea Luce! I'm gonna grab my swim trunks and meet ya at the beach." Moments like this, he wished he shared Erza's ability to requip into clothing... he turned to the blue cat with an internal pout. "Let's go Happy!"

"Aye sir!"

Haru and Erza, already in swimwear, strolled off in the direction of the beach, the redhead calling over her shoulder for the others to meet up as soon as they were ready. Gray tried to follow them but the scarlet mage turned a death glare on him, "You are not swimming naked! Swim trunks, GO!"

He paled and bolted in the direction of his apartment.

The Beach

Racing back to the beach cheering rambunctiously with Happy soaring overhead, Natsu kicked up a cloud of sand trailing behind him as he headed straight for the water where Erza, Wendy and Carla were already playing with a large beach ball in the shallows. Bolting into the ocean and straight for the blissfully unaware girls, Natsu launched himself with a burst of fire and dropped himself in a cannonball between them. Much to his delight, the large splash thoroughly soaked all three of them. He broke the water's surface and laughed uproariously at their expressions and Carla's indignant complaints.

Still holding the beach ball, Erza's displeasure revealed itself in the subtle tension in her hands and the more pronounced twitch of her eye. "Do you want to go again…" she drawled angrily, but Natsu just smirked, scooping his hands into the water and nonchalantly splashed a smaller wave of water into her face. She blinked back at him, stunned into silence as the water dripped down her face. When she snapped out of it, she whipped the ball at him. It bounced off his forehead and arced perfectly back to Wendy, but it still didn't succeed in wiping the amusement from his face. Growling, the redhead dove at him furiously, plunging them both into the water.

The squabbling mages periodically broke the surface for air, not pausing long before their enthusiastic wrestling took them back under. Wendy stood dumbfounded with the ball in her hands, sharing a bewildered look with Carla. Natsu and Erza came up again, gasping for air which only paused them for a second before engaging in an all-out water war.

"Let's go Carla..." the young slayer said flatly, turning to put some safe distance between her and her insane guildmates. Wendy and Carla waded toward the shore and Happy trailed after them, already doting on the white cat. The trio settled on to the beach blanket Erza had requipped earlier, just as Lucy wandered up in a white and pink flower print bikini.

"Hey you three, I brought iced teas, do you want one before they get too warm?" the blonde asked, holding out an ice cold can to the sky mage. Wendy accepted it with glittering eyes and an enthusiastic nod. Popping the tab, she took a long gulp, and sighed out her gratitude before taking another smaller sip.

Lucy smiled back as put hid the cooler in the shade of the umbrella and joined them on the blanket. Sighing contentedly, she stretched out and enjoyed the warm sensation of the sun melting over her skin. "This is exactly what we needed!" she said happily.

"Aye sir!"

"I agree," Wendy said with a shy smile, "thank you for inviting me!"

Laughing, Lucy reached over and flicked the rim of Wendy's sunhat up, earning a small sound of surprise. "You're one of us Wendy, you will always be welcome!"

"Exactly, Fairy Tail is family, right Lucy?"

The girls turned, and found Mira approaching, having overheard the tail end of their conversation. Her soft pink sundress blew in the wind as she stopping in front of them with a smile. Just behind her, Gray was striding toward them as well, and despite Erza's earlier warning— "Gray!" Lucy barked, "your clothes!"

Lucy shuffled over to make room for Mira on the blanket, rolling her eyes as Gray whirled around and began frantically back-tracking in search of his swim trunks. "So Mira, what brought you out with us?"

With a knowing smirk, Mira nudged her shoulder into the blonde's, "Well I had no choice really..." she replied cryptically. Lucy's eyebrows rose, waiting for clarity, and began feeling slightly weary under her friend's mirthful gaze. "I couldn't very well monitor the progress on my bet from the guild, could I now?"

"WHAT?! Mira there is no progress! You're imagining things!"

"Progress on what now?" Gray asked as he returned and dropped gracelessly onto his butt in the sand.

"NOTHING!"

Gray appeared taken aback, pursing his lips at the stellar mage's outburst and the takeover mage's obvious amusement. "Girls are so damn weird..." he mumbled, "where are Haru and Fire Breath?"

Before Lucy could answer him, an explosion of fire caused a giant tidal wave that was followed by a distinctly female squeal. The group shifted their collective gaze to the ocean just as the wave crashed into the shore and sent Erza plowing into the sandy beach. "Eh?!" Lucy's eyes bulged as the redhead slid to a stop on her belly, just short of the blanket with her arms stretched out in front of her. "Uhh… Erza, you alright there?"

Erza recovered from her disorientation instantly, jumping up to lounge in a beach chair that appeared in a flash of light. She took a sip of a strawberry iced tea that Lucy hadn't even see her reach for as she stretched out comfortably. "What a beautiful day, wouldn't you agree, Lucy? Everyone?" she asked happily, as if she hadn't just been violently ejected from the ocean. Lucy deadpanned.

"Well, Gray, I'd have to say that would answer half your question... as for Haru, we haven't seen him. Best guess?" she said, with a dismissive shrug, "ocean. Swimming. As usual." She reached for the book in her bag, and flopped over to her stomach, content to relax and read the afternoon away in the sun.

Natsu had other plans.

He ran up waving his arms excitedly, having finally noticed her arrival, "Lucy! Let's play!"

"Geez Flame Brain... don't you know how to act your age?" Gray taunted.

"Sure," Natsu said, ignoring the ice mage's bait in favour of grabbing Lucy's wrist, "but where's the fun in that?"

Before Lucy could respond to the direction of the boys' conversation, Natsu had pulled her up and thrown her over his shoulder. Her resulting protests didn't deter him in the slightest as he spun and raced back to the water. Lucy could already feel the heat in her cheeks when she locked eyes with Mira, who looked all too triumphant with the turn of events. 'This means nothing!' Lucy screamed in her head. The spray of the water chilled her skin as Natsu ran into the shallows kicking up water as he went. As soon as the water lapped at his belly and her legs, he dove, submerging them both without warning.

Bursting to the surface Lucy screeched indignantly, treading water as she scanned the crystal clear surface for Natsu. She felt a tug on her ankle and barely managed a gulp of air before he dragged her beneath the water again. Kicking off his ribs like a springboard, Lucy swam away gracefully, and pierced the surface again a meter away, flipping her hair back in an arc. Then she locked onto Natsu's location and scooped a face-full of water at him in retaliation for the unexpected dip. He sputtered and spat out a mouthful of water, "Ohhh, you're asking for it!" he said, returning fire.

She ducked under the water, and emerged with another sneaky splash attack. "Keep your eyes on me, Natsu," she said with a wink, "or you'll lose this water fight, for sure!"

"My eyes are always on you, Lucy," he told her with a lopsided grin.

Lucy's face flushed as she stared back speechless for a second. 'Get it together Lucy, no way he meant anything by that!' she berated herself internally. Giving herself a shake, she pushed her internal struggle away. The fire mage had dove under the water again, and reappeared inches from her face, gazing intently at her. Her face coloured even further, if that was at all possible, she screamed and shoved her hands forward smacking him away forcefully.

"Oww! What was that for?" Natsu whined. The blonde mumbled something that sounded like 'too close,' and he grinned, gliding through the water to pop up right in front of her again. Lucy froze as his eyes scanned over her face, he lifted a hand to trace her loose bangs back and tucked them behind her ear, before leaning in even closer.

She thought her heart might pound out of her chest at the intimate gestures. But just as she started reading into his actions a little too much... a smile broke across his face and he dipped beneath the surface again. Lucy looked around wildly with her mouth agape, incredulous with her own train of thought. For just a moment, a second really, Lucy had been almost certain he'd been about to kiss her.

Then warm arms wrapped around her body, pinning her arms to her sides from behind. She shrieked again as he sprung up and fell back into the water, taking them both under for a third time with a large splash. Releasing her, Natsu swam around her and grinned widely down at her before speeding away. Eyes narrowing, Lucy rolled in the water and sped after him, launching her body from the water to latch herself to his back as he came up for air. "You're not getting away that easily, dragon boy," she called playfully, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Natsu peeked back over his shoulder at the blonde now anchored to his back. "Alright then, you better hang on tight!" he shouted, running through the shallows as she shrieked in laughter.

From the shore, Erza squealed excitedly about wanting to play the game too. She quickly snagged Gray in an iron grip over his biceps and dragged him to the water before could process what she was even referring to. Tossing him in the shallows, the redhead jumped onto his shoulders and pointed toward the blonde, who, having caught on to Erza's game, was repositioning to perch fully on Natsu's shoulders. "Onward trusty steed!" Erza bellowed.

"Oi! I am NOT your damn horse," Gray denied fiercely. He looked all too confused as to how he'd gone from comfortably relaxing in the sun to having the scarlet knight's thighs locked around his head.

"It's okay popsicle, I know you're just scared to lose."

"OH, its ON, Natsu!"

The boys collided, barely paying attention to their passengers that were forced to scramble to remain seated on their shoulders. All four mages' hands met and began trying to topple the other team.

"You're going down, Erza!" Lucy promised. Erza smirked noticing that the smug look her friend wore, mirrored Natsu's own.

"Bring it on, Lucy!"

Natsu and Gray continued to exchange blows enthusiastically, just barely minding the girls on their shoulders. Natsu spun and jumped to throw a back kick at Gray's chest, reaching up with a hand on Lucy's ass to steady her. He ignored her smacking him across the head in reprimands of 'copping a feel.' The kick landed, and Gray tumbled back. His hands whipped up to Erza's legs to keep her from falling, but she reflexively clamped her thighs around his head anyway. "GAH! Erza, c-can't breathe!" he choked out as his face turned blue.

"Get your head in the game Gray!" she scolded.

Blades of ice appeared in both of Gray's hands as he leapt forward again. Natsu responded by wrapping his own fists in fire and just like that, a simple game of chicken, became a magic battle. They were back in thigh deep water, as Gray slashed his ice blades in a flurry of strikes and Natsu parried, grabbing one blade with his bare hand to melt the ice on contact. Erza reached out catching Lucy's wrist and wrenched forward trying to pull her from Natsu's shoulders, but he reacted quickly, driving his hand up into the redhead's elbow forcing her to let go. Lucy shot a palm out to brace against the muscle of Natsu's chest to stop her forward momentum and he helped resettle her back in place.

"Let's get 'em!" Lucy called, eyes flashing with determination as she drew a glowing hand through the air in downward arc and pulled an elbow back passed her ear. A shimmering golden bow and arrow formed out of light, "Star reform: arrow!" Lucy yelled. She opened her hand and a beam of blinding light shot forward to find its mark in the center of Gray's chest. Not expecting an attack from Lucy without her keys, he went flying back and Erza's arms flailed as they both went down in a large splash of water.

"Yeah! Nice shot Luce!" Natsu cheered as they shared a victorious high five and additional cheers. Both their friends surfaced a second after, spitting out mouthfuls of waters and narrowed their eyes.

"Can't beat our teamwork!"

Erza fixed the ice mage with a glare instead of rebutting Natsu's remark, "You lost focus!"

The raven haired dropped his head in defeat, as the scarlet knight swatted at him half-heartedly. Her laughter proved she wasn't actually upset with their defeat though. She stopped mid-swat after a few seconds as a thought dawned on her, and she looked back over her shoulder at Lucy who was still balanced on Natsu's shoulders. "Wait, you have other magic?!"

Lucy just smirked, "Girl's gotta keep some tricks up her sleeve, right?"

"Well what d'ya know, you're full of surprises Lucy," Gray added.

Haru emerged from the water between them, tossing his head back and shook out his hair to dispel some of the moisture. Blue eyes swept around the group as he sighed amusedly, "There you go again, ruining a perfectly peaceful swim," he declared, "so noisy..." The Water Slayer gave them a fond smile before diving back under the water and making his way to the shore. Lucy slid off Natsu's shoulders and the four friends followed Haru back to their beach blanket where Wendy was still sitting under the umbrella with Mira and the two cats.

Mira nudged Lucy playfully when she settled herself next to her, leaning into whisper, "Your definition of progress, might need some editing." Mira winked and cocked her head in Natsu's direction as he and Gray made slower progress up the beach, shoving each other and arguing about the game of chicken.

Lucy went beet red, fixing Mira with large eyes and once again frantically denied every implication the model made. To Lucy's horror, Haru sat down with her and Mira, wearing an undeniably mischievous look that Lucy didn't like one bit. He proceeded to announce that Natsu had been spending multiple nights at the blonde's place since they'd returned from the Oración Seis mission. That previously unknown information, clearly, added a ton of fuel to Mira's theorizing.

Lucy glared at him, "Who's side are you on?!" she screeched before her head whipped in the takeover mage's direction at the sound of delighted squeals. "It's not what you think Mira!"

Drawn by the laughter, Natsu abandoned his rivalry with the ice mage and bounded over to the blanket, flopping himself down between Lucy and Haru. He immediately threw an arm around Lucy's shoulders without a second thought, "Whatcha guys talkin' about?" he asked them.

Mira and Haru both burst out laughing, and the stellar mage just sighed in defeat, deciding to ignore her annoying guildmates in favour of reaching into her cooler for an iced tea. Natsu stole the can out of her hand, raising it in a gesture of cheer, "Thanks Luce," he said mirthfully.

She turned an incredulous look on him. "If you wanted one, you shoulda said so, that one was MINE!" Lucy berated, but he'd already popped the tab and downed half the tea. Glaring at him out of the corner of her eye in defeat, Lucy reached for a new can for herself.

. . .

No one had been ready to call the end to the day when the sun had began to dip lower in the sky, so Natsu had thrown a quick bonfire together and produced a couple bottles of alcohol from his requip space to keep the fun going. As was the usual when their group was together, Erza had eventually instigated a game of Truth or Dare and no one dared to reject the idea. Especially when she was already frustrated she didn't have the materials for her true favourite: King's Cup...

The Game had remained fairly tame toward the beginning, and with Wendy's involvement, Haru was fairly certain it couldn't escalate to it's usual out of handedness. Normally, he avoided Erza's games like the plague, too much spotlight or uncomfortable questions. Wendy was his unknowing shield this time, Wendy, and a complete avoidance of the 'Truth' option.

So far, the dares had been nothing too bad, mostly just funny for those watching the dared participant. Gray for instance, was squirming in discomfort after Lucy's dare required him to don a thick winter coat that Erza had requipped. If the most he had to endure was a silly dare that made him momentarily uncomfortable than it was worth it to enjoy time with his friends after the stress and trauma of the past few weeks. Of course, that thought died quickly when he got a look at the devious grin widening on his partner's face.

Haru froze. Natsu's eyes laid squarely on his, canines glinting in the light of the fire as they parted. Swallowing thickly, Haru wondered what the Fire Slayer had in store from him. And here he'd been worried about what Erza might do. "Truth or dare, Haru?" Natsu asked smugly, and the whole group's eyes now flicked between the two dragon slayers sitting across the fire from each other.

No way in hell would he ever pick truth, even if the look on Natsu's face was a giant alarm bell to do just that. It didn't help that Haru knew his best friend was fully aware that he would never willingly put himself in a position where he might have to talk about his past. He was too private. "Dare..." Haru grumbled finally, taking in the look of absolute delight that took over Natsu's face. "Oh dammit Natsu! Just get it over with!" Haru snapped, his calm wearing.

"Aww! Don't be like that, partner," Natsu said, enthusiasm colouring his words, "I dare you... to grope Mira!"

"W-what?!" Haru yelped, he could feel his entire face heat in an instant, and it wasn't just the fire two feet in front of him anymore. "N-Natsu, you can't just put Mira in a position like that, with no say—"

His attempt to escape backfired hard. Mira crawled enticingly toward him, with a grin that was just as mischievous as the fire mage's. "Oh you can touch, if you want, Haru!" she chirped, arching her back to push her chest out further. Wendy, on Haru's other side was bright red as Erza clapped a hand over the teen's eyes, her own eyes wide with anticipation. A glance around at the rest of his comrades showed Natsu laughing uproariously, clearly pleased with himself. Gray was laughing at his expense as well, though he was less obnoxious about it than Natsu. Lucy... Lucy just looked very curious. That couldn't be good either.

Haru swallowed, desperately wondering how he could get himself out of this situation. His fingers twitched in the space between himself and Mira who somehow managed to maintain the same sweet smile she would wear while serving their drinks at the guild. He narrowed his eyes at her, she took FAR too much delight in making the men of Fairy Tail squirm... He should have known she'd jump at the chance Natsu's dare presented, to torture him.

"Something wrong Haru?" Natsu's voice sang in his head, "perfectly legit chance to touch Mira with no consequences...we both know you wanna..."

"You suck Natsu." he snarked back, exhaling in defeat. Resolving to get this over with as quickly as possible, he reached for Mira's chest with a very stiff hand, regretting ever letting himself get tangled up in Erza's games.

"Oh come now, Haru, no need to be shy!" Mira chirped again, snagging his hesitant hand to plant it firmly on her breast before he could come to his senses.

Haru's face flushed even more than he would have thought possible as Natsu fell back into the sand, laughing so hard now that he had to swipe at the tears gathering in his eyes. Haru tore his hand back from Mira's grasp, eyes widening comically, "The hell Mira?!" he asked frantically. She said nothing, her deceptively innocent smile still in place as she turned and parked herself between his legs to further fluster him.

"Now, where were we?" she asked innocently as she made herself comfortable. The water mage sputtered incoherent words behind her that she paid no attention to. "I believe it should be my turn because I technically completed Haru's dare for him. What do you say, Natsu?"

"And skip Haru's chance at revenge?" he said chuckling, "yeah, I think I'm good with that."

"Great," Mira said, clapping her hands together cheerfully. Haru would have complained, but then he noticed the way Lucy was squirming in her spot and realized what the blonde had already assumed... Anything Mira was about to do to Lucy, would surly involve Natsu, (who remained oblivious to Mira's suspicions). Forcing himself to relax, Haru threaded one arm around the white-haired girl's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder to watch the show. "Truth or dare, Lucy?" she asked.

There was another person that wouldn't likely pick truth, Haru knew. Lucy had only opened up to Natsu since joining the guild, but Haru still thought there was plenty she was holding close to her heart, even from the Fire Slayer. "Umm, dare, I guess..." she said uneasily.

"I dare Lucy to kiss Natsu!"

Yep. That would do.

Except Natsu didn't appear to be the slightest bit embarrassed by the implications of Lucy's dare for himself, much to Haru's disappointment. Lucy's reaction, was, of course, entertaining as always. "T-truth! I choose truth!" she attempted to backtrack.

"You know the rules, Lucy, all choices are final!" Erza declared.

"Why do you all insist on subjecting Wendy to your deviant behaviours?!" Carla cried indignantly, watching the young sky slayer cover her heated cheeks with her hands, despite her eyes remaining locked on Lucy.

"Ah, chill out, Carla. Loonie's gonna chicken out anyway..." Natsu taunted, his eyes not straying from Lucy for a second.

"The name's LUCY!" she barked, and with a face as red as Haru's had been, she closed the gap between herself and Natsu. Lucy placed the barest peck on his lips before retreating with a squeak of embarrassment. The whole group whined in disappointment, gaining the blonde's ire. "Shut up! I finished the dare!" she growled as Natsu laughed.

"I would hardly call that a kiss..." Mira retorted, Haru, Erza and even Gray nodding their agreement.

Before Lucy could argue the unspecified details of the dare, Natsu caught the back of her neck with a warm hand and pulled her back to him. He sealed his lips over her's fully, traced her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue as her lips parted in surprise and drew back too soon. Her fingertips brushed her lip absentmindedly as she stared dumbly up at him. He shrugged his shoulder, toothy grin in place as he addressed the group, "There, no big!"

Lucy looked as dumbfounded as Haru felt. Natsu had always been bold and unabashed in his actions, but Haru wouldn't have predicted that. He also seemed completely oblivious to the mental tailspin he'd just sent Lucy into. "So who's next?" he asked boisterously, tipping one of the bottles of alcohol circulating around their fire back for a long drink.

The whole interaction had Haru chuckling lightly, his laughter escalating to full hilarity until everyone glanced his way in surprise. He waved his hand dismissively, "Sorry, it's nothing," he said, forcibly reining in his reaction. His companions, save Lucy who was glaring in understanding, exchanged skeptical looks at his odd behaviour before continuing their game once more. All the while, Lucy eyed the pink-haired mage beside her when she thought no one was watching. She'd be trying to make heads or tails of Natsu's action for days to come, Haru knew.

So the Fairy Tail mages finally had an entire day to simply kick back and relax, with no real cares in the world. A whole day to spend on the beach playing, sunning and chatting, and simply enjoying each other's company. Despite the unexpected game of Truth or Dare forcing him well out of his comfort zone, Haru wouldn't have changed anything about the day. He laughed with the others as he watched Natsu run down the beach in the nude, his scarf tied around his head like a turban on Erza's dare.

Everyone was just so carefree in that moment; none of them could have guessed that in a short time, they'd be facing another incredibly dangerous mission with their lives on the line again.

A/N. Any predictions on the next arc? I'll give you a hint, the previous arc hinted at this one a chapter or two back.

See you Saturday for the new arc!

R&R

~LokaMuse