A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to a new chapter!

Enjoy!

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: FATEFUL ENCOUNTER

"This ain't right, Gramps! Why'd you throw out Laxus?!" Natsu continues to complain about the Laxus incident. "He's part of our family, you know?! Fightin's just part of being a family, right?!"

"Enough of this, Natsu!" Erza ordered.

"I wanna fight him again!" Natsu argued, furious with the Master who doesn't seem to respond. "Next time I'll be strong enough to win against him face to face!"

"I said enough!" Erza grabs Natsu's shoulder. "Think about the Master's feelings! Do you think he expelled Laxus because he wanted to?!"

"But..." Natsu muttered.

"It's because it turned out Laxus was a Dragon Slayer." Happy stated.

"No... He is not a Dragon Slayer." Master Makarov finally spoke. The Master explains the truth about Laxus' Magic Power.

"We were all really surprised when we heard that. According to the Master, Laxus was frail when he was a child, so Laxus' father, Master Ivan, embedded a lacrima that lets you use Dragon Slayer Magic in his body." Most of the guild mates were surprised when they heard this.

"Dragon Slayer Magic lacrima? Things like that exist?" Happy asked. Lucy looks at Natsu with a disappointed expression.

"Master said that he'd take responsibility for his grandson's actions and step down from being the master. Everyone tried to convince him to stay, but..."

Past...

"Don't make Laxus' punishment any worse, please." Freed's appearance changed a lot when he cut his hair shorter. He persuades the Master to stay. "If Laxus found out that you quit, Master..." The Master thinks about it for a moment.

"With a haircut signifying his repentance, and an air of the past, it was Freed that managed to talk him out of it."

Present...

"Speaking of Freed, he and the other Raijin Tribe finally opened up a little bit to everyone, I think."

"Go ahead and use me as your model, I don't mind! Don't go thinking anything strange now. I don't mean nude..." Evergreen does multiple poses.

"O-Oui..." Reedus sweat dropped.

"Like this? Or how do you like this?" Evergreen continues to pose. "Hurry up and start painting."

Bickslow approaches Lucy with Happy and his dolls behind him. "Are you and Loke going out?"

"Are you? Are you? Are you?" Bickslow's dolls repeat after him.

"He lllllikes you..." Happy teased.

"Ugh..." Lucy groaned.

"He lllllikes you!" Bickslow taunted. "He likes you! He likes you!" His dolls repeated after Bickslow, chanting every word.

Lucy sighs out loud. "And, as usual, I'm mixed up with a bunch of weirdos." The Raijin Tribe smile at her. "Ever since the Harvest Festival, I saw Erza being alone a lot."

Past...

"Master, who exactly is he?" Erza asked.

"To think he'd have the same face as someone you know... Sorry. I don't really know much about him." Master Makarov replied. "He's quite the tight lipped one, he is."

Present...

Erza remembers about the many faces of Jellal. "Jellal..."

"So, things went like that for about a week... But I had another big problem left!"

The results of the Miss Fairy Tail contest were posted on the request board. Erza won the contest while Lucy came in second and Juvia in third.

"Rent: Denied!" Lucy screamed while crying a waterfall.

"How about working?" Natsu suggested.

"Well, that'd be nice and all..." Lucy sobs with her head in her arms resting on the table. "What'll I do?"

Cana sits down next to Lucy while drinking her booze. "I wish I had a boyfriend..."

"What's with you all of a sudden?" Lucy asked.

"Men... It's men!" Cana replied. "Go without a boyfriend for a while and I start gettin' the itch, you know?" Lucy's entire face turns bright red. "What're all embarrassed for?"

"I-I'm not..." Lucy looks away from her with her heart beating rapidly.

"How many guys have you gone out with?" Cana asked, teasing her.

"Maybe like... three?" Lucy replied, sweating nervously.

"Yep, a total lie." Cana said. "Haven't you ever wanted a boyfriend?"

"Sure, a little..." Lucy sighed. "But honestly, I don't really know..."

"You're so dang cute! Listen up, everyone! Lucy's never had a boyfriend!" Cana yelled as Lucy freaks out. She turns to Lucy with a serious face. "Worry not. My cards have spoken. Today you will have a fateful encounter."

"A fateful encounter?!" Lucy repeated. She sees Erza running past her wearing a fancy purple dress and her hair tied up. "Erza, what's with the dress?!"

"Next is make up! I can't stay like this!" Erza answers her question as she runs off.

Gajeel in a white suit with his guitar slides across. "Shooby doo bop!"

"That's odd. The Harvest Festival is already over, so..." Lucy muttered.

Mira approaches them. "Didn't you know? A reporter for Weekly Sorcerer is coming to do an interview here."

Lucy fan girls a bit. "What?! The Sorce is coming?!"

"He said he was writing a special feature on Fairy Tail!" Mira added.

"Interview... Special Feature... Reporter... Fateful encounter?" Lucy's heart beats fast. "Oh my god! A magazine reporter is coming... My cuteness will knock him right out." Lucy-san... Please, allow me to photograph your cute smile... "Finally, I'll be in a photo spread! And that reporter is my fateful encounter!" Lucy-san, I want to continue this interview... forever. "And what's more... If I can get a fee from doing the interview, I might be able to pay my rent! This is like killing two birds with one stone! Totally..." She snickers to herself. "I can do this! I can totally do this!"

"Natsu, Lucy's broke." Happy said.

"Maybe she ate something that went bad." Natsu said.

"Or maybe she's snapped under the pressure of having to pay her rent." Aira reminded them.

"I can't stay like this!" Lucy runs out of the guild.

Lucy, in the meantime, goes home and summons Cancer to give her a new hairstyle, but is not happy with it, so she runs to buy a styling magazine.

At the book store, she meets a guy who turns out to be a traveling writer, who asks her to show him around. Lucy at first declines his offer because she thinks he is her fateful encounter and then leaves. Behind her, a mysterious girl appears.

"Oh, welcome back, Erza!" Lucy returns to the guild. "Shoot! I forgot to go buy the magazine... And came here instead of going back home..."

"Oh! Titania!" A man approaches the guild. He has a camera and a pink shirt. "Holy... In the flesh! Cooool! Cool! Cool! It's Erza herself, right here before me! Coool! Cool..."

"Who's this high-strung weirdo?" Lucy asked.

"That's Mr. Jason, from the Weekly Sorcerer." Mira replied.

"Isn't this just the way I usually am? And after all I went and got all dressed up..." Erza requiped back into her usual armor.

"No problem! I want to capture you as you are naturally!" Jason exclaimed. "Cooool... Cool! Cool!"

"My fated person? Probably not..." Lucy mutters to herself. "Anyway, no way I'm going to let my chance at getting a photo spread slip by!" She gets closer to Jason.

"Very cute!" Jason takes a ton of photos of Erza.

Lucy acts flirtatious and cute, trying to get Jason's attention. "My name is Lucy! Erza there is my friend, see!"

Jason completely ignores her. "Would you answer a few questions?!"

"I don't mind." Erza replied.

"Ignored!" Lucy shrieked.

"How many different requips are there you can do?!" Jason asked.

"Over 100." Erza replied.

"Cooool!" Jason said. "Which one is your favorite?!"

"Maybe the bunny girl?" Erza replied.

"Bunny?!" Jason blushes.

"Those ears are really cute." Erza said.

"Coooooool!" Jason gets more excited. "What're your favorite foods?"

"I can't do without cheesecake or souffle." Erza replied.

"I knew it! Nobody knows who the heck I am!" Lucy get irritated. Happy tries not to laugh at her. "I don't wanna hear you laughing about it!" She snapped.

Jason appears next to Happy. "Happy! Why are you blue?!"

"Because I am a cat!" Happy simply replied.

"I suck!" Lucy falls down. Jason looks at Lucy's direction. He stares at her for a while. "Dang... he's totally not my type. What'll I do if he's my fateful encounter?"

"It's Gray! Gray is here, in the flesh!" Jason dashes past Lucy to where Gray and Juvia are sitting.

"Is that the reporter?" Gray asked.

"He's that magazine reporter." Juvia replied.

"Could it be... Are you... Juvia?! Cooool!" Jason writes everything down on his notepad. "So, Gray. Why do you strip?"

Gray jumps on the table with no pants on. "I do not!"

"Gray. Pants." Aira reminds him as he screams in shock.

"It's kind of hot in here... I might have to strip down myself..." Lucy fans herself with her tank top almost falling off. Jason completely ignores her.

Natsu screams in anger, breaking tables everywhere. "So you're that reporter?!"

"Natsu! Natsu, the Salamander! You're the one I wanted to meet most of all! Cool!" Jason fan girls uncontrollably.

"Take it down a notch!" Lucy commented.

"Hey, hey! You're always writin' nasty things about me!" Natsu yelled.

"Yes!" Jason shakes his head.

"Like about the stuff I destroyed, or the stuff I destroyed, or the stuff I destroyed...!" Natsu yells louder.

"Cool! Cool! Cool!" Jason just keeps saying the same thing over and over. "Whoa! It's really you! This is radical, to the max!" Natsu looks at him with a serious face. Jason puts his hand out, nervously trembling. "Can I shake your hand?"

"Shut up!" Natsu punches Jason instead.

"Cooool!" Jason rolls on the floor. "Whoa, he's just too cool... Truly a hero! I've never seen such a cool handshake before!"

"What a pro." Happy commented.

"Elfman, what is being a man to you? And his answer... "Being a Man!" Jason said. "So coool!"

"Team Shadow Gear, is it true you're in a love triangle?" Jason asked. "And their answer... "No comment." Dang, this rocks!"

Jason rushes over to another table where Aira is sitting with Satsuki and Cana. "Tsunami! It's Aira!"

"Who are you?" Aira asked, not interested in the reporter.

"Aira, is it true that you and Satsuki are dating?" Jason asked.

"We're not dating!" Aira shouted.

"Tch. Like I'll ever want to date Tsunami..." Satsuki muttered, blushing a little bit.

Jason turns to Cana, asking more questions. "Cana, do a photo shoot this time, okay?!"

"Whatever! Have a seat and drink up!" Cana invites him to drink with her. "I don't care how desperate I am, this ain't happening."

"Master, what are your aspirations for the guild?!" Jason asked.

Master Makarov nervously shakes. "Um... To be devoted every day in our hearts to love and justice!"

"I smell a lie!" Lucy pointed out.

"The Raijin Tribe has been dissolved?!" Jason asked. In the background, Lucy tries to catch his attention.

"No." Freed replied.

"No way in hell!" Bickslow sticks his tongue out.

"We'll work hard to make up for Laxus!" Evergreen poses.

"You've had a makeover!" Jason approaches Laki.

"I'm aiming to win the next Miss Fairy Tail contest!" Laki winks at Jason.

"I haven't heard from you two in a while!" Jason takes photos of Macao and Wakaba.

"Well, you haven't grown!" Wakaba said.

"Go easy on us, got it?" Macao added.

"Of course!" Jason takes countless photos of them.

"Hey, hey!" Lucy breaks down into tears. "He's not paying attention to me at all!" She thinks of an idea that might work. "I have no other choice... It's embarrassing, but it's my only option!" She appears on stage in a bunny outfit. "Attention, everyone! I'm a cute lil bunny!" A few people look at the stage.

Gajeel pushes her out of the way, taking over the stage. "I'll be the one to sing! Shooby doo bop!"

"Gajeel?!" Everyone screams in shock.

"Not you again?!" Jet and Droy scream together.

"He's here! Black Steel Gajeel! Coooool!" Jason yelled.

Gajeel plays the harmonica and then his guitar. "In this world, where you look like a fool for doin' what's right... You always looked like a fool, you know?" He plays a note on the guitar. "In other words, it's right to be a fool. So, partner... Can you hear me? This is a song from my soul..."

"It's like lightning up my spine that never stops!" Jason yelled.

"Shut up, Gajeel!" Natsu punches Gajeel off the stage.

"Why, you..." Gajeel growled.

"Enough with your singin' your crappy songs! I got busniess with him!" Natsu gets attacked by Gajeel's iron pillar.

"I haven't sung anything yet! Let me sing, you bastard Salamander!" Gajeel shouted.

"Take this, you!" Natsu and Gajeel start to fight again in the middle of the guild.

"Come on, you two... We're in the middle of an interview!" Mira yelled.

"It's a super battle between two Dragon Slayers unfolding before my very eyes! The photo spread for this issue is gonna be a detailed analysis of it, definitely!" Jason takes pictures of Natsu and Gajeel fighting. "Cool... Cool... Please, look this way! That's it!" As Jason gets closer, Natsu and Gajeel punch him at the same time. "A hands on report... Hands on... Cool..."

"What a pro." Happy commented.

A young girl with long dark blue hair and brown eyes is carrying a few presents in her hand, walking around town.

Lucy leaves the guild, encountering the young writer from before: she agrees to take him on a tour of the city.

Later on...

Lucy is sitting at a table with her head resting in her hands, thinking about the day she spent with the novel guy. "What're you making such a freaky face for?" Natsu asked.

"Scary." Happy muttered.

"It's the same face I always have!" Lucy commented.

"Let's go on a job!" Natsu grins at her.

"We have to get to the client's house by tomorrow morning, so we'll take a night train." Happy stated.

"Right now?" Lucy asked. "I can't."

"Huh? But you're always complaining you don't have any money." Natsu stated.

"I can't today. Because..." Lucy remembers about the guy asking her to eat dinner with him. "I have a date!"

Natsu and Happy walk away with a gloomy and disappointed expression. "Oh..."

"Hey! You don't have to be that depressed!" Lucy said. "What's with them?"

"After Mr. Jason left, they were all excited about going on a job with you, Lucy." Mira stated while polishing drinking glasses.

"Huh? Why?" Lucy asked.

"They said they found a job that'd be perfect for you, although it's not much." Mira replied. Lucy looks at the clock, thinking whether she should go to the date or take the job with Natsu and Happy.

Lucy seems sad. The guy waits for Lucy at the restaurant, and Natsu and Happy are on the train. She is shown walking, minutes before her date, into an unknown direction. Then it is revealed that Lucy got on the train with Natsu and Happy, much to their surprise.

"I'm glad I came. In the end, what's most important to me are my friends at Fairy Tail. I guess he wasn't my fated person after all..."

Aira and Satsuki are seen riding the train in another compartment, along with Cain. "I didn't ask for you to come with me on this job, you know. Gajeel was just busy doing something else." Satsuki said.

"Don't feel special. You should be thankful that I'm helping out." Aira stated.

"What is the job about anyway?" Cain asked.

"We have to retrieve this artifact that was stolen by Forest Vulcans. The reward is 10,000 Jewel." Satsuki replied.

The girl from before is shown walking in the train. Aira looks at her, examining the girl.

"Something wrong, Aira?" Cain asked, looking at his partner worriedly.

Aira watched as the girl disappeared. "It's nothing. Just thought I sensed something odd." He responded.

"Just as my cards foretold... Today you will have a fateful encounter..."

A/N: There you go!

Yes, I added a scene with Aira and Satsuki, because they might get together by the end? Hopefully? Idk.

Hope you enjoyed!

~Kyle