It was day three of the Grand Magic Games, and it was already off to a wild start. Ara watched in wonder as Pandemonium was revealed and then shocked when Erza chose to fight 100 beasts.

No one doubted her or her strength, but it still was an amazing feeling to see her defeat them all and win. To make up for her ruining pumpkin heads game though, they had to come up with an alternative method to rank the rest of the guilds. It was a globe-looking item that gave a number equivalent to the participant's raw magical ability.

What did come as a surprise to everyone was the fact that Cana, at the last many too, pulled out one of the three sacred fairy spells and blew the tester out of commission.

It was one hell of a day and Ara found she couldn't stop smiling and screaming with cheers for her family, even at one point holding Zip in the air who shot off some confetti.

Then came the one-on-one matches. The match to watch was Laxus vs. Alexei, at first it seemed that Laxus wasn't fighting at all. It confused Ara to no end, Laxus was one of their strongest members, up there with Erza and Mira. Yet it came to be revealed that what they were watching was all an illusion. In truth, Laxus was fighting their whole guild and Alexei was Master's son.

Raven Tail was then disqualified and Fairy Tail Team B won 10 points.

The next battle that caught Ara's attention was most obviously Wendy and Sherria. The two young girls turned out to be fairly matched, Wendy a Sky Dragon Slayer and Sherria a Sky God Slayer, something Ara did not even know existed. They fought with small fists giving it their all for their guilds. There was a point where Ara felt her heart drop at the state Wendy seemed to be in, but the girl never gave up her fighting spirit. In the end, it was a draw.

These were the more important details of the third day. That day was the day everything made a turn, and Ara was excited to see where the guild would go from there.

...

On the fourth day of the tournament, Ara found herself holding her breath.

Lucy.

Pain.

Lucy.

Minerva.

It was gut-wrenching and disgusting to watch. Hit after hit after brutal hit. Everything in Ara was screaming at her to go down there and defend Lucy.

Lucy was kind, smart, beautiful, funny, and had the most honest and bright souls Ara knew. She didn't deserve this cruel sadistic treatment.

Luckily the referee ended up stopping the fight, though Ara thought that should have been done much sooner.

As soon as Minerva stuck out Lucy and started to drop her Ara jumped into action using gravity magic to lower Lucy to the ground just as Gray and Natsu were running to catch her.

Ara bounded down into the arena to give support to Lucy.

Natsu and Gray turned to Minerva as she came out of the water, an evil smirk on her face. Ara gritted her teeth in anger, readying her body to fight.

"What the hell is your problem!" Natsu shouted in pure rage, eyes blazing.

"You went way too far." Ara gritted out standing to her feet. Ara was always one for kindness and forgiveness but purposefully hurting her friends with no remorse she would not stand.

The soldiers went into the immediate action to get Lucy to the infirmary but Wendy ran into the arena. "Hold on, I need to give her special emergency treatment!"

"I'll help you!" Sherria shouted running in as well, Juvia by her side.

"Just hang in there Lucy." Ara heard Juvia shout, but her eyes were trained on the monster.

Then Erza came in between Minerva and the rest of them, fury in her fists. Quickly Wendy and Sherria went to work healing Lucy.

Minerva still stood in all her arrogance, hand on her hip. "You can glare at me all you want if it makes you feel better. But remember I acted in full compliance with the rules of the competition."

Erza took a few steps towards her, Ara not far behind. "That may be true, but you went way outside the bounds of basic human decency."

"I was simply trying to entertain the crowd, that's all," Minerva laughed. "To be quite honest, you should be thanking me. She got second place didn't she? She could have never done that without my help."

Ara couldn't stop herself from moving in front of Erza just as Natsu and Gray came to her side. "Have you lost your mind? How dare you even imply that!"

Then in an instant Rogue, Sting, Orga, and Rufus were in front of them, as if ready to fight. Ara wasn't the type to jump into a brawl like Natsu, but right now her morals seemed to be going out the window.

Ara looked at Rogue who was already staring at her. A look of pity and restraint in his eye. The boy she had saved, was now a man that would willingly stand up for injustice. It was enraging and sad. So sad she could feel a tear slip down her cheek.

She shed a tear for Lucy, for her guild, and for Rogue.

Ara met eyes again with Minerva, who looked back at her with disdain and mild amusement. "I think you should reel your bird in Erza before she pecks someone's eye out."

Erza came in front of Ara, Gray, and Natsu, pushing all three back. In the distance, Ara could hear the crowd chanting for them to shout.

"Although you may be considered the strongest guild in Fiore, you'd be wise to heed this warning," Erza said, authority in her tone. "Listen carefully. Making an enemy of Fairy Tail is a decision you will regret."

As they made their way off the arena grounds, Ara gave one last look to the shadowy burning gaze behind her. It was a cold and disappointed glance.

...

Ara had just left the infirmary after seeing Lucy. Her heart hurt to see her in that state.

Ara walked down the dark Colosseum corridor, her feelings in disarray. Then she felt it, a presence. Her heart sped when a hand gripped her wrist pulling her back and around.

"What do you want?" she pulled back against the hand, not caring if she bruised herself. "Let me go. We aren't this familiar, you made that abundantly clear."

"Ara," Rogue started, his head bowed, looking down at her shorter stature. "I'm sorry for earlier and what Minerva did to your friend." He pulled her closer by her upper arms, a motion that made an unwanted flush crawl up Ara's neck. "But you have to know I would never hurt you."

Ara glared, "Can you say the same about my guild mates? Your words mean nothing when your actions show you wouldn't hesitate to strike down my family. Yes, I am enraged with Minerva for the disgusting vile pain she inflicted on Lucy but," Ara pulled herself from his grip, poking her finger into his chest. "You coming between to defend her, the boy whose life I saved, that I gave this world another day with, for you to do something like that I - I.."

She wasn't sure why she was choking on her words. Why did she keep getting this feeling in her chest? It was like gravity was weighing her down and crushing her soul. She shouldn't care about what Rogue chooses to do in his own life. Maybe everything she said was an overstep. Talking down on a man she barely knew. Yet in only the few instances they interacted she could feel her heart race and squeeze in a way she'd never felt before.

Ara took a step back, trying to stop the small tears prickling at her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me..." She turned around, "Excuse me.."

Just as she began to walk away arms pulled her into a strong chest, hugging her in a tight hold. Ara took in a sharp breath. "I'm a selfish man, Ara, I know. I'll keep fighting and become stronger, so please don't give up on me."