[Re-edited 03.26.23]

Happy Saturday!
I can't believe the first month of 2021 is already come and gone. Crazy!

More fluff and banter and the S Class announcements, so hopefully no one's sick of the non-action yet!

Onward!

28

-The S Class-

Lucy was lying across her bed on her back, with her heels propped on her windowsill and her head hanging off the edge. She observed Haru from upside down, the water mage was seated at her table, a finger prodding absently at his lower lip in deep thought. "Don't you think we should include Wendy and Gajeel?" he asked, blue eyes flitting across her to settle on Natsu, currently slumped back against a few pillows with his arms crossed comfortably behind his head.

"I didn't want to include too many people yet, I still don't have any clue what to make of Anna's warnings..." he replied. Releasing a drawn out sigh, Natsu spun around and dropped onto his back, resting his head on Lucy's stomach. He kicked his legs over her headboard and continued, "there's no one in the world, I trust more than you two... so I'd rather keep this between us for now."

Haru nodded slowly, still pondering the strange meeting his partner had relayed to them once they were alone and free to discuss. There were far too many questions and no obvious ways to get answers, but Natsu was right, without more information, there was no point stressing the rest of the guild out about it. Especially with the S Class exams right around the corner as well. Most of the Guild's mages were currently running rampant on solo quests to try to gain the Master's attention for nominations. Haru had planned on doing the same, but he was fairly confident that based on his performance as Natsu's partner last year, and the major quests he'd accomplished this year, that he'd be a candidate... Unless that wasn't enough to overcome the whole Deliora incident... Not his most shining S Class example. Still, the possibility of a gate being used to disrupt the past and thus their present, coupled with a mysterious Heartfilia who, ironically, Lucy didn't know, but who somehow knew Natsu, seemed more pressing than his potential promotion.

In addition to the impending exam, Makarov and Erza were both away on a trip to the NMC to provide testimony on behalf of Jellal's unique situation. They'd be away for a few days, so the Master wasn't available to consult, even if they chose to bring this confusing turn of events to his attention.

Haru gave his head a shake, trying to refocus on their current discussion rather than over-analyzing all the unknown variables, as he was prone to doing... Lucy had taken to drawing her fingers through Natsu's hair, pulling the bangs that had fallen across his forehead out of his face. His attention had remained on the ceiling during their entire conversation, but now his onyx gaze shifted to meet Lucy's. "You really didn't know you had more family Luce? I mean, she coulda been your twin," Natsu pointed out, watching her reaction closely.

Earlier, when he'd connected the unknown woman to the Heartfilia name, Lucy had tensed and become withdrawn for a long moment. Her family was gone, her mother had passed years ago, and her father was as good as dead to her, she had no siblings that she was aware of, no aunts, no uncles... So, who was Anna Heartfilia?

She dropped her free arm over her face, inattentive to their stalled conversation. Haru got up with a quiet exhale, "I'm going to make a pot of tea," he said, sensing they could all use a little something to calm their nerves.

"Thanks Haru…" Lucy said absently, still considering Natsu's run in with the mystery Heartfilia. What made less sense, was how Anna had chosen to speak to the fire mage and not her, if they were in fact, related. She let the kettle's whistle and the light clinking sounds from her kitchen distract her until an idea occurred to her. "Natsu, you mentioned that Anna said that the Eclipse Gate was constructed using Celestial Spirit Magic, didn't you?"

Feeling him nod against her stomach as he hummed his answer, Lucy pushed herself back upright. Natsu rolled to his side and leaned on an elbow as she repositioned, appearing disappointed at the loss of his pillow. Haru rejoined them just as she was leaning over Natsu to retrieve the ring of keys on her desk.

Setting a tray containing mugs of tea and some biscuits down on the table, Haru exchanged a curious look with his fellow dragon slayer. Both returned that curiosity to the blonde a second later as she sorted through her keys. Lucy stood and joined the water mage at the table, mumbling a cryptic hint to her idea, "If she happens to be a celestial mage, then I might be able to get some information…"

She separated a silver key from the ring and the guys both watched her closely, still not following. Holding the chosen key out, Lucy chanted, "Open, Gate of the Southern Cross: Crux!"

With the typical golden flourish, a large anthropomorphized cross with a long moustache appeared to hover over Lucy's bed, his skinny limbs crossed in a meditative position. The spirit straightened slightly from slouched posture as he turned sleepy eyes on his summoner. "Ah Lucy, what can I do for you?" he questioned through a yawn.

"I was wondering if you had any information on Anna Heartfilia?" she asked hopefully as both her companions perked up in anticipation.

Crux hummed and pulled at the long white hairs of his moustache, "You know I am barred from divulging any personal details," he reminded softly.

The blonde nodded quickly, "Please? Anything you can tell me would be helpful Grandpa Crux!" she requested pleadingly, clasping her hands in front of her. Crux continued to float next to Natsu, who'd shifted into a cross legged position and was eyeing the spirit sidelong with a degree of wonder and curiosity.

Recrossing his arms, Crux hummed again, "Well… I suppose, it couldn't hurt to tell you Anna Heartfilia was the only celestial mage to ever hold all twelve zodiac keys—"

"Was?" Crux's eyes opened slightly wider from the sleepy slits they had been, when all three of the mages zeroed in on that one word.

Arching a thick white brow, Crux confirmed, "Yes, 'was,' she lived 400 years ago."

Natsu made a choked, frustrated sound, throwing his arms up in exacerbation as he collapsed back on the bed again. Lucy and Haru glanced at each other over the table. It wasn't overly surprising to find out she was Lucy's ancestor, considering she arrived by way of the Eclipse Gate which had been introduced as a portal between times. But the information did raise a LOT more questions about how she knew Natsu and clearly that thought had the Fire Slayer at his wit's end where this conversation was concerned.

Natsu himself, had said interacting with her had felt like being repeatedly hit over the head with a hammer full of déjà vu... His eloquent way with words, of course.

"My apologies Lucy, but that is all the information I can provide," her spirit told her regretfully.

"No, that's okay Grampa Crux, that at least, gives us somewhere to start."

He nodded, appearing to drift back into a slumber and then disappeared from the room. Lucy approached Natsu who was staring blankly at her ceiling again, limbs spread wide across her bed. She reached out to take a fistful of his scarf and forcefully dragged him up and forward until he was a few inches in front of her face. "Get out of your head, Natsu," she commanded with a small smile, "we'll figure it out, we always do."

Haru stood, "Well, I will take this as my leave for the night then..." The couple peeked back at him in slight confusion at his sudden announcement of departure, so he offered some reassurance. "The world won't end tonight, or likely any time soon. So we can keep doing whatever research we can and include the others if we hit a road block." He tilted his head with a small smile, "but for now… S Class exams are right around the corner, and Lucy is gonna help me kick ass this year... That is, if she isn't nominated herself," Haru reminded with a wink, "right Lucy?"

Lucy gave him a bright smile, "Definitely!"

"You have to get past me though," Natsu declared, "and that is a fight I'm looking forward to! I've never gotten to fight either of you all out before, I'm all fired up!"

Lucy and Haru made eye contact, and the blonde burst into laughter at the fire mage's predictable excitement, his previous concerns forgotten at the thought of a challenging battle. Natsu repositioned himself, dragging her into his arms, "And just what..." he said, punctuating his words with tiny nips at her neck, "is so funny?"

"Natsu! S-stop that!" Lucy whined. Haru chuckled a little as he watched her swat at the undeterred pink-haired man.

"Alright, I'm going to go drag Happy off of Wendy's hands, I'll see you both at the guild tomorrow."

Laughing as he pressed the celestial mage down on her bed and crawled over her, Natsu threw a look over his shoulder at his partner. "Bye Haru!" he emphasized, "See you tomorrow man!"

Haru rolled his eyes, taking the barely-disguised command of his best friend and quickly retreated from the small apartment. He caught Lucy's breathless farewell as he shut the door and locked it behind him.

Later That Week

"I don't think they've moved in at least ten minutes..." Lucy noted, her head cocked as she leaned against the bar. Natsu stood next to her, ordering a beer and a shot of fire whiskey for good measure. He peeked back over his shoulder as he accepted the shot from Kinana, eyeing the completely unmoving forms of their nervous teammates.

Tipping his head back and downing the liquid, Natsu gave a satisfied sigh when the alcohol-induced heat spread down his throat. "You're not nervous Luce?" he asked, turning and leaning his elbows onto the bar behind him as he waited for his beer. Lucy returned her attention to him with a smile as she shook her head.

"Nah, I'm still pretty new, I'm not really expecting to be nominated this quickly anyway."

"I dunno about that, you've knocked out a few S-Class level missions with us this year."

She shrugged a shoulder as Kinana tapped the fire mage on the shoulder and pressed the beer into his hand. He turned with another thanks on his lips and found two more beers on the counter. Natsu raised a brow in question as the barmaid giggled, "I think Haru and Gray could use these…" she said with a warm smile, "on the guild."

Natsu laughed, "Yeah, you're probably right, thanks Kinana," he said as he picked up a second glass, and Lucy took the other. They turned and strolled over to their team's table and dropped down onto the opposite side, next to Wendy. The teen was trying, and failing, to get the two raven-haired mages to loosen up and relax.

Natsu slid the two drinks he was holding across the table to them. "Even Kinana can tell you two are fucking basket cases, drink up before your faces freeze like that," he said with a mocking chuckle.

Taking the offered beer and downing a couple quick swallows, Haru fixed Natsu with an expressionless gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about, we're just killing time, right Gray?"

"Uh—yeah, who asked you anyway Fire-Breath!" the ice mage retorted.

"Huh. Well Lucy, maybe we misjudged," Natsu said, making a show of shrugging his shoulders as Lucy played along. He turned back to the pair with a subtle smile and reached across the table for Gray's beer, "I guess you don't need this then—"

Gray snagged the beer out of Natsu's grip quickly, causing the foam head of the drink to splash back at him. "I'm not nervous or anything, but a man can always use a drink…" he growled. Taking a satisfying swig, he attempted to ignore Natsu and the girls giggling at his expense. Happy joined in Natsu's mocking, singing various annoying phrases, to further aggravate him.

"NATSU!" Erza's voice barked from upstairs, causing him to slump forward slightly. Onyx eyes narrowed as he shifted to glance back to the balcony overlooking the hall. The redhead was gripping the railing so hard it looked like it could crack under her gauntleted hands as she glared at him with murderous intent. "The meeting started 20 minutes ago!"

Lucy laughed at Natsu's drawn-out sigh and handed him the last beer as he stood to grumpily head toward Makarov's office. Natsu had always hated the logistic side of S Class status and his knightly comrade had always taken pride in reminding him that S Class couldn't all be about throwing punches on tough quests...

He'd already swallowed half his beer before he reached the top of the stairs where the impatient knight was waiting. She went to knock her fist into his head but despite his show of laziness, he still reflexively caught her strike and turned with a smirk. "A good brawl would be a lot more fun than this meeting… Don't tempt me," he threatened, only half-jokingly before downing the rest of the amber liquid. Erza rolled her eyes, placed a firm grip on his shoulder and forcibly maneuvered him down the hall in front of her, ensuring that he wouldn't sneak away from the trial meeting.

Every year before announcing the candidates for the annual S Class trial exam, all the current S Class mages of Fairy Tail, would gather in preparation. They would discuss and recommend the members they thought were ready to undertake the gruelling challenge, in addition to who could uphold the expectations of the position. Natsu grumbled as he and Erza entered the room to join the rest of their fellow S Class.

Laxus was to the side, leaning against the windowsill, arms crossed and a look of indifference on his face and Mira was seated in the chair behind Makarov's desk. The master himself, had foregone the chair in favour of sitting on his desktop as usual. But none of their presences surprised Natsu, until his eyes dropped onto the orange-haired, middle-aged man wearing a frayed traveller's cloak and a wide grin.

"Well shit! Look who's still alive! Hey old man!" Natsu called as he moved across the room to throw his hand into Gildarts'.

The other man pulled him into an aggressive hug, slapping an open palm into his back. "Who's an old man? Huh? This old man can still kick your ass."

Natsu pulled back from the hug with a challenging look, "Oh yeah? I'm getting all fired up!" he announced, igniting his fists.

Makarov had been periodically calling for all of their attentions, and after being ignored for the third time, the small man's eyebrow twitched. Patience gone, he struck out with a titan-sized fist, sending both Natsu and Gildarts careening into the bookcases at the back of his office. The pair crashed onto the floor with a decent number of books raining down on top of them. Matching groans escaped the men as they finally turned their attention to the guild master. The other three S Class simply rolled their eyes or chuckled softly.

"Alright, now if you will all shut up and pay attention?! We have an exam to prepare for!"

. . .

Gray was on his third beer, and Haru noted the alcohol seemed to be lulling his anxious anticipation into a buzzed stupor. The water mage combed his fingers through his bangs before dropping the side of his head onto a propped palm, wishing he felt as calm. His nerves had only increased when Natsu disappeared upstairs... Just upstairs, the S Class were discussing this year's exam trials, and the announcement would be made before the hour was up.

He idly wondered what was happening up there when a loud crash had echoed through the floor earlier. He couldn't imagine they'd be fighting in the Master's tiny office, but with Natsu in the room, anything was possible. Lucy and Wendy were chatting about what the exam could potentially entail, neither of them had heard many stories of the previous year's trials and so all they could really do was speculate. Gray had been Cana's partner last year, and of course, Haru had been Natsu's, so they both had some ideas of what the events would be like. Though the Master changed up the venue and challenges every year to keep up the mystery, he could be sadistic like that. Of course, he claimed it was to mimic the uncertainty of S Class requests, which did make some sense... Even with a client's debrief, you could never really be prepared for any number of unexpected twists that came up on the missions.

The tapping of boots and Mira's heels drew the attention of all the gathered Fairy Tail members. The girls lead the group stoically with Makarov and Laxus on their heels, all focused in the professional air they presented. But Natsu and Gildarts, never ones for reading the energy of a room, shoved each other and bickered all the way down the stairs. The group of senior mages climbed their way onto the stage and Erza finally barked at the two to behave themselves. Both looked her way, scratching their heads sheepishly.

Haru hadn't even realized the crash mage was in town, Gildarts didn't usually show up for any of the Guild's events, as he was always away on long-term quests. He'd left on a century quest over a year ago, and they only heard from him by lacrima comm occasionally. Natsu must be ecstatic, Haru thought. The two of them were very close, Gildarts had been a father figure for the fire mage growing up, when he was around anyway.

"Who is that?" Wendy whispered, Lucy also leaned in with her interest piqued.

"That's Gildarts, Ace of Fairy Tail," Haru supplied, before pressing a finger to his lips to quiet them. He pointed at the stage where the Master was just taking hold of a microphone.

The elderly man cleared his throat and his five S Class mages finally fell silent behind him. They stood with arms crossed, or their hands on their hips, wearing slightly cocky smiles, each looking like a pillar of confidence and strength that the whole guild strived to reach. Next to Haru, Gray groaned under his breath. It was the first year that Natsu got to stand on that stage, and it was clear the ice mage was still a little sore that his rival cleared the hurdle first.

"Thank you, my children, for joining us for the announcement of the annual S Class exam," the small man bellowed to resounding cheers of the packed guildhall. "This year our exam will be held on Fairy Tail's sacred land, Tenrou Island, where our first master was laid to rest… The trials will be like no previous year and those of you participating, will be challenged in every way!"

He paused to revel in the noticeable shudders that went through the audience at the sadistic look that flickered across his face. "So, without further delay, please join me in congratulating our newest S Class candidates! Cana Alberona! Elfman Strauss! Freed Justine! Haru Marius! Gray Fullbuster! And Levy McGarden!"

As each of the candidates were announced, the members cheered loudly. They pulled the listed mages into hugs, or slapped them on the back, and generally celebrated their comrades' recognition as some of the Guild's strongest. Haru released a sigh of relief, he'd been fairly certain he'd be chosen, but he was honestly concerned that Makarov might hold him and Gray back due to their lack of judgement when they went running off without a word to go hunt Deliora. Maybe enduring THAT punishment had been enough retribution in the master's eyes.

Lucy had squealed when both Haru's and Gray's names had been listed and had launched herself clear across the table to wrap her arms around both of their necks. She was still doing a fantastic job of choking the life out of them while Wendy and the cats laughed happily.

"Each of you should carefully choose your partners for the trial. As usual, you may not team up with an S Class mage, or anyone who isn't a guild member. The exam will commence in four weeks time, you will all be at Hargeon Port by noon sharp, in the meantime, train hard and good luck!"

. . .

The guild dissolved into noise and bustling activity instantly. Makarov groaned half-heartedly, waltzing passed the males on the left side of the stage and mumbled about needing a drink. Hearing that, Gildarts and Laxus followed after him without a word. Natsu decided challenging the crash mage could wait and leapt off the stage toward Dragon Soul's table. He crashed into his partner, folding him into a headlock and cheering his congratulations loudly, much to the water mage's chagrin as he attempted to free himself.

"Oh shut it Flame-Brain! Hate to break it to you, but I'm winning S Class this year— too bad Haru," Gray vowed, regaining his usual competitive streak, "and Lucy's gonna be my partner, right Lucy?"

He fixed her with anticipatory energy as Juvia seemingly appeared from nowhere, radiating a deadly aura. "Love Rival will NOT be Gray's partner," she responded as she wrapped her entire body around his back. Gray visibly shuddered as he looked back at the crazy, though endearing, bluenette clinging to him.

The ice mage quickly turned a pleading look back to the blonde, Haru was also watching her from his spot on the floor still in Natsu's unrelenting clutches. "Uh…" Lucy dragged out, her mouth quirked up at the corner as she absently pulled at her long ponytail. "Sorry Gray, I already promised to be Haru's partner months ago, if he was nominated."

Smiling back at Lucy while simultaneously fed up with Natsu's idea of a congratulations, Haru finally threw a water enhanced punch into his unsuspecting partner's jaw. Breaking out of the grip, Haru sat up, remaining on the floor and watched Natsu rub at his jaw. Lucy approached and offered her hand to pull him off the floor, grinning brightly, she added, "and Gray, we're gonna kick your ass!"

Natsu laughed as peeled himself off the floor and joined Erza and Mira who had seated themselves on the edge of the stage to observe the various participants. Jumping up sit to beside the takeover mage, the trio watched Gray curse and ramble about who else he might partner up with. Lucy pointed behind him with a sly smirk and he paled, turning slowly to take in the hopeful look on Juvia's face.

"Gray's and Juvia's magics are incredibly compatible and they do work really well together," Mira commented, "she might be a little, um, eccentric? But he'd be crazy not to team up with her." Natsu and Erza both nodded, fully agreeing. It was critical to pick a partner you could work well with and trust, power wasn't the only factor at play in these exams.

"But we all know that none of the other teams, except maybe Freed and Bixlow, will be able to match Haru's and Lucy's teamwork." Natsu added confidently, "they're the team to beat."

"Completely unbiased, I'm sure," Mira smirked knowingly and Natsu turned to fix her with a sly look. Sure, he might be a little biased, but he knew their strength and teamwork were nothing to scoff at regardless of his bias.

Somehow, he and Lucy had still managed to keep their relationship under wraps from the rest of the guild, even with Mira doing her best to get them to fess up. She was such a damn brat sometimes, but Natsu still couldn't find it in him to regret kissing the blonde in front of her back in Edolas. Erza nudged her shoulder into Mira's and pointed her finger back at the ice mage who was still hesitating, jaw working for words and finally asked the other water mage to be his partner. "He's not a completely lost cause," Mira laughed as her companions nodded again on either side of her. Juvia squealed loudly, and everyone slapped their hands over their ears, Haru, and even Wendy rounded on Juvia shouting out their displeasure of being deafened.

Natsu hummed in consideration, drawing the girls' attentions. "I wonder how Gray and Juvia will overcome Haru's magic," he pondered. Natsu knew Gray was intimately familiar with the Water Slayer's abilities as team members. The ice mage was also a decent tactician himself, so he would likely take the next month to strategize. "Obviously, Haru can negate Juvia's water spells, but according to him, he also managed to melt Ultear's Ice Make back at the tower and use it against her… Not to mention gaining Blizzard Dragon Slayer magic, I wonder if he can flat out eat Gray's ice now." Natsu's grin continued to widen as he pondered out loud. He was damn excited to see what Gray would come up with to combat that, despite giving the ice mage a hard time, he had full faith in his abilities. Though his money was still definitely on Haru.

The S Class mages continued to debate and predict various outcomes of theoretical fight match-ups between the participants. They knew some vague details of the events that would be facing their comrades, though Makarov kept a lot of it under wraps from the senior mages to ensure they wouldn't give hints or inadvertently give the challenges away.

. . .

A few hours had passed, and the candidates had mostly paired off at this point and had already begun running out of the guild shouting about 'super secret training trips' and the like. Laxus had dragged Freed and Bixlow off not long ago, the latter two looking appropriately terrified. The lightning mage had already waged a bet with Natsu about whether the Thunder God Tribe's leader, or the Fire Slayer's partner would emerge victorious, and he was clearly taking the challenge very seriously. Jealous that Laxus and the rest of her team had left for some specialized training, Evergreen had demanded Elfman partner up with her, so she could make Freed regret not choosing her. It was a completely unexpected team, though not nearly as surprising as Levy and Gajeel.

Natsu was still trying to wrap his mind around that one. The Iron Dragon Slayer had come storming over to him and Haru yelling about how, as the strongest of the three of them, he should be a candidate. Howling with laughter, Natsu had taken the opportunity to mock that he wasn't even good enough to be snapped up as a candidate's partner. The resulting challenge had sent the other slayer off, barking threats at each of the participants about taking him to Tenrou. Lucy had outright slammed a fist into his metal pierced face when he had demanded Haru, 'drop the blonde baggage,' implying that she wasn't strong enough to be useful.

From his spot sprawled on his back, eye twitching and nose bleeding profusely, he whined about Lucy's cheap shot. "She got you fair and square man, don't be a sore loser," Natsu chuckled as he looped an arm around the smug stellar mage's shoulders.

He shook off the strike a minute or two later and went darting over to Levy. "Hey Shrimp! Good news, I'm gonna be your partner!" he announced. The small bluenette turned away from Jet's and Droy's dull, rock-paper-scissors tournament, the right to be her partner on the line and raised an incredulous eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me?" she drawled irritably, "SHRIMP?"

Gajeel grinned, patting her head condescendingly as her glare darkened more and more, "Yeah, you need some power, and some height, to get you to S Class. Edo Levy wasn't so bad, so you're probably decent fun."

Eye twitching at the numerous slights in the very short conversation, Levy grit her teeth, "Solid Script: drill!" she growled.

The word 'drill' appeared in magical text and Gajeel cocked his head in confusion. Then the word began spinning into a speeding drill that collided with him, sending him soaring across the hall into the back wall. He slid down the wall, landing on his head in a knot of his own limbs and groaned loudly. Despite their initial interaction, somewhere in the next 30 or so minutes of resultant bickering and name calling, the Iron Slayer wore her down. Convinced to partner up with him, the unlikely pair left to begin training, much to the shock and devastation of her teammates.

So, with the rest of the participants disappearing off to implement their respective training plans, Natsu turned to Haru and Lucy, hands on his hips and the usual toothy smile on his face. "Well, we should get going too, four weeks is going to fly by," he declared cheerfully, they both nodded in response. Happy flopped onto Natsu's head to settle in for a ride and the trio turned towards the guild doors to head out. Erza shouted a good luck and waved at them as they disappeared into the sunny afternoon.

After gathering some gear and meeting back up at Lucy's, the mages chatted contently as they made their way down the cobbled streets toward the train station. They'd settled on heading for Akane Beach but planned to stay in the cabins farther up the shoreline from the resort. The mountains, ocean and forest offered a solid range in terrain in which to train. Natsu listened as Lucy gushed about the pristine beaches that they'd be spending the next month on, while Haru purchased their train tickets. Natsu was torn between joining her excitement and reminding her that their training plan was going to be no vacation… She shrugged but her smile stayed firmly in place.

Haru had just reached the front of the line and was handing the usher some jewel when a body slammed in to him from behind. The sudden additional weight had him tripping forward and barely catching his balance.

"One more ticket please!" Mira chirped at the man in the ticket window who was watching the scene with an incredulous look. Natsu watched from a distance, and Happy snickered behind his paws, teases already primed for the pair. Once again, the She Devil had succeeded in throwing Haru for a loop. He had reflexively caught her around the waist to steady her, stopping them both from crashing to the ground. Remaining completely speechless as she straightened, he accepted defeat as Mira accepted the four tickets.

"Mira, you coming along?" Natsu asked as he and Lucy approached.

"You look a little pink Haruuu, you liiiiiiiike her!" Happy cheered, immediately flying behind Natsu to shield himself.

Mira ignored the cat, and Haru's flustured response. She gave Natsu a beaming smile, "Yeah!" she confirmed happily.

"That's wonderful!" Lucy said prematurely.

A mix of sadistic excitement and mischief played over Mira's features, "I bet Natsu and I can come up with all sorts of fun to get you two ready for the trials!"

Lucy paled significantly, "Uh, w-what about Elfman?"

Mira shrugged a shoulder, "Well, I was going to help him train, but I got the impression he wants to prove himself without his big sister's help, and this seemed like more fun anyway!" she alluded. Turning to the still-confused Water Slayer, she asked, "Well? The beach and the torture are calling!" She thrusted the handful of tickets in the air, "let's get going, shall we?!"

. . .

The train lurched as it pulled away from the platform with a whistle and the girls shared a slightly amused look as the Twin Dragons released simultaneous groans. Natsu slumped into Lucy's side, dropping his head onto her shoulder and she ran a hand up and down his leg soothingly. "You throw up on me, and I throw you out that window..." she warned.

"—Don't tempt me…" Natsu grumbled, Haru released a breathless sound of laughter at the comment. He hinged forward and dropped his elbows onto his knees and his head into his palms.

Happy jumped onto Lucy's lap when Natsu's fidgeting for comfort, started to squish him between them. He immediately began pleading, "Luushy, will you pet me too?" Lucy rolled her eyes at his choice of words, eyeing Mira to see if she'd take the opportunity for a dig about 'petting Natsu.' But apparently her friend was busy soothing Haru, rubbing patterns into his back, so the blonde turned her attention back to the blue cat.

"Is your stomach waging war against you?"

Pouting, Happy gave her his best sad eyes, and with an exaggerated sigh of defeat, Lucy lifted her hand to scratch his ear. Happy purred and Natsu groaned and Lucy sighed again. She had to admit that the two depending on her so often made her feel appreciated. She shifted a little to lean her back against the window and carefully eased Natsu down to her lap. He automatically curled up on his side and buried his head into her leg and Lucy set the now sleeping cat into the crook of Natsu's hip before pulling a book from her bag to pass the time.

"They're kinda cute when they're all helpless, aren't they?"

The blonde peaked at her friend over the top of her book. Haru pressed himself up and angled himself against the window, gaze moving between the two girls from behind a curtain of dark bangs. "Not cute—we are not cute," he argued.

Lucy stifled her giggles behind her hand as Mira leaned her body over the water mage's, poking his cheek, "Aww that denial just made you even cuter," she teased.

He wrapped his arms tighter around himself and narrowed his eyes at her. She just looked up at him with a silly smile, resting her chin in a cupped hand propped on his leg. "Come on," he whined, "my stomach is trying to kill me, and you're still mocking me?"

"Should I not?" she asked innocently as the train lurched again. Haru screwed his eyes shut, abandoning the conversation to focus on deep breathing.

Tilting her head, Lucy suggested, "Why don't you lay on Mira's lap? Natsu always says it really helps." Mira actually blushed at the suggestion, much to Lucy's shock. She watched in curiosity, raising a brow and fixing Mira with a smug look; it was so rare that she managed to fluster the She-Devil who spent so much time successfully flustering her. Haru seemed too preoccupied with his motion sickness to have even reacted to her suggestion, so she went back to picking at Mira's wavering calm instead.

The train ride was passing fairly quickly, though it was only a couple hours to begin with. The dragon slayers each ended up passed out on the girls' laps, Happy spent part of the trip asleep and the other asking if they could go fishing for dinner, and Lucy and Mira chatted back and forth about their four-week stay on a beach. Training trip or not, they were both super excited for the break. Just having fun together with no greater stress than the looming S Class trial. In comparison to all the insane missions they'd faced this year, the upcoming trial was a (literal) trip to the beach.

Lucy confided that she, personally, was simply excited to have a solid month where the only people around were all fully aware of her relationship with Natsu. No sneaking around, just simply being together. She dropped her eyes to the mop of pink hair on her lap, and absently combed her fingers through the messy strands. His breathing was even and relaxed now and it made her feel strangely at peace as well.

"I think I want to tell the guild when we get back, Mira," she said softly, eyes remaining on Natsu, ensuring he was still asleep. The takeover mage smiled encouragingly, as the corner of Lucy's lips quirked up in a half smile, "Natsu and I still haven't really talked about our relationship though... I mean, not that it's just physical… but…" Lucy paused, eyebrows knitting together in thought as she tried to put words to her feelings.

"Lucy, everyone except Natsu and YOU—and maybe some of our less romantically intuitive comrades… Gray… Erza…," she interjected, "know that you two love each other."

"Uh, yeah I guess, I know there is love between us… It's just we haven't had a chance to talk. We only just got together after the Tower, and then Lisanna—and he told me he loved Lisanna—and then Edolas—"

Mira cut her rambling off, "Yeah, he did love Lisanna. How do you think I know he loves you?" The blonde returned the eye contact now, confused, she shook her head slowly, not quite understanding.

"Because you, are the first one that brought back the light in his eyes after we lost Lisanna, and yes, I am fully aware of how sappy that sounds," Mira said with a laugh.

"Thanks Mira, I just wish I knew what he wanted…down to the simplest things, like, can I call him my boyfriend?" Lucy said softly, a bright blush painting her cheeks.

Natsu blew out a puff of air that was half snort and half laugh, "Duh, of course I'm your boyfriend," he mumbled into her leg. An even brighter blush flew across Lucy's cheeks at the sound of his voice. How much had he heard?! Natsu groaned, pushing himself up into a seated position, forcing the symptoms of his motion sickness to the side for now. He caught her eyes, fitting a gentle hand over the side of her jaw, "and I want you, Loonie, I want everything you're willing to share with me, I want our future."

She blinked back at him dumbfounded and speechless, eyes flicking over to Mira who had her hands clasped in front of her and a starry-eyed look in her eyes. Haru had apparently woken up recently as well, he was watching the two of them with a small smile. Lucy slowly gave her attention back to the fire mage. Natsu was staring at her with an absolutely incredulous look, as though he thought everything he'd said should be entirely obvious, thus the use of the pet name. "Lucy?" he prompted.

The stellar mage snapped out of it, a smile breaking across her face, she grabbed both of his hands, "I want that too Natsu."

Chuckling, Natsu's head dropped forward, pink bangs hiding his face, "You're such a weirdo." Lucy gaped, grinned and then smacked him as a voice filtered over the speakers to alert the passengers of the approaching station.

"Oh, thank you Gods!" Natsu whined childishly, and with that, the touching moment was gone. The girls both sweat-dropped as they climbed to their feet and helped pull the half-delirious guys out of their seats with Happy's help in grabbing their bags.

Akane Cabins

"This is gonna be awesome!"

"We're right on the ocean!"

"Don't even think about it, you are not going for a swim. We are all going for dinner."

"But Mira—"

"Nope, you can swim later."

"I want fish!"

"Yeah, we know!"

The foursome had found their way to the small beach resort, miles down the shoreline from Akane Resort and had checked in to their respective cabins, home for the next month. It was a pretty secluded place to stay, and being so close to a five-star resort, it wasn't very busy, so the Fairy Tail group practically had the area to themselves. They'd rented two cabins out of a cluster of six for the month, and they were right on a stretch of pristine shore, no one was surprised when they immediately had to stop Haru from diving in before they'd even dropped their bags. A couple low peaks at the start of the mountain range offered some prime opportunity for endurance training, and they were also only a short walk from a small beach town. Tonight, they planned to wander into town to grab a bite to eat, but being right on the shore, they'd likely spend a few nights cooking fish over an open fire as well.

Happy flew ahead of them, stomach growling loudly and commanding that they pick up their pace before he starved to death. Natsu cheered and ran off after the blue cat, both now boisterously yelling about stuffing their faces and their three comrades just strolled lazily along behind them. Tonight, they would take the night off and relax. They'd made a pact not to talk about the trial or any of the tense crazy shit of the last year; tonight they would just enjoy the night as though it were a regular, well deserved, vacation.

But tomorrow, all bets were off, if Natsu couldn't be Haru's partner, like Haru was his the previous year, then he'd at least do everything in his power to make sure that he and Lucy would take the exam by storm.

Haru was going to be S Class.

A/N. S Class Trial right around the corner, should be fun. But first, a nice little training interlude and good ol' fun chapter.

Also, Awww! NaLu progress, while Natsu's motion sick… seems plausible ahaha. They're jus so damn cute, aren't they?

Thanks to Valerioux and Fan Of Natsu for reviewing last chapter, and EternalFlame for jumping in on past chapters. :)

See you all next week!

R&R.

xx Loka Muse