Ever After

A New Team

*YOUR POV*

After Erza left with Lucy, I turned to face Sabertooth. "Icy wall!" I yelled, flinging my hands up to create a barrier between my guild and theirs. I kept my eyes on them, but spoke to everyone standing behind me. "Guys, go. Go to Lucy. She needs us right now. I'll make sure they don't attack us." I heard the receding footsteps of my guild members as they ran to the infirmary after Erza. Once I could no longer hear them, I slowly backed up a couple feet, then let my wall drop and raced after my guild.

I hit the door running and continued into the infirmary. I stopped short when I saw everyone. Lucy was lying in bed, and surrounding her were Gray, Erza, Juvia, Mira, Cana, Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Laxus, Happy, and Carla. A smile slowly spread across my face as I walked over and wrapped my arms around Erza's waist. Everyone was clearly worried for Lucy and angry at Sabertooth. Lucy began to stir. We all held our breath as she opened her eyes and spoke.

"Everyone... I'm sorry." Natsu and I exchanged confused glances before he spoke.

"What are you apologizing for?" Lucy started to cry.

"I've failed you. Again." Gray stepped forward, eyes on Lucy.

"Failed us? Are you kidding? Lucy, because of you, we took second place and got eight points!" I grinned.

"Yeah, you were amazing out there!" Lucy smiled, tears pooling in her eyes. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. We remained by her side until Master Makarov came in.

"A team? B team? You're all here? Good." He took a deep breath, almost hesitant to continue. "I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news. The administrators told me that teams A and B must combine." Everyone gasped in shock, but two voices rang out clearly.

"What?!" Natsu shouted angrily.

"Teams A and B have to unite?" Laxus questioned.

Mirajane, the last person I'd expect to protest, ran over to the guild master, visibly upset. "Why?!"

Master Makarov sighed, resting a hand on Mira's. "The disqualification of Raven Tail brings the number of teams down to seven, and having an odd number doesn't work when it comes to matching up for the battle part. Therefore, both of our teams must become one and we have to choose the five members again."

"Choose five members?" Erza asked, resting her head on my shoulder.

"What about our points?" Carla interjected.

"Apparently," Makarov began, "the lower score will carry over. In other words, A team's 35 points..." I sighed, unhappy, but at least relieved that we kept our points, so Lucy's efforts weren't in vain. Cana turned to Master Makarov, smiling.

"Well, on the bright side, at least we'll get to put together an even stronger team." Gray shook his head.

"But even if we decide on five people here, the remaining events will all just be tag-team battles, right?" Porlyuisca, who'd been silent this whole time, surprised us all by answering.

"No. I'm sure that between tomorrow's break and the final day, there will be a battle involving all five members. So you should choose carefully."

"Well," I began, "we can all guess that Sabertooth will be the guild that the other finalist is going up against, so we have to choose the strongest members." I looked to Master Makarov, expectant, but he shook his head.

"No, Y/N. I'm not picking the team. You are." I inhaled sharply, shocked at what I'd heard.

"Me? But why?"

"You've proven time and time again how devoted you are to Fairy Tail, and there's no doubt in my mind that you'll make the right choices. I trust you, Y/N." I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes, but I fought them back, gripping my wife's hand for support. I turned to face my guild.

"Ok. The five strongest members." I pointed at Natsu, Laxus, and Gajeel. "You three for sure. You're all dragon slayers, which is our strongest magic, and it will be good against Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth." I turned to the rest of the guild, contemplating who else to add. "Erz, Gray. You guys are the other two strongest, at least under normal circumstances." Gray looked confused.

"Normal circumstances?" I nodded.

"Yes. Normally, Erza is stronger than either of us, and we're evenly matched. But she's pregnant, and I'm not sure if that makes her weaker than one or both of us, or if she's still stronger." I wrapped my arm around my wife's waist, holding her close. "But I really don't want you fighting. Not in the state you're in." Erza smiled and kissed me, her lips brushing over mine softly.

"I don't want you fighting either, sweetheart. But we need to win this thing. For your sister. So we need to build the strongest team." I sighed.

"Then we'll need to know who's the strongest between you and Gray." I turned to face the guild master. "You've known everyone here the longest, and you saw them both fight. Who's the stronger one?" Master Makarov's eyes flicked between the two mages, deep in thought. Then, he walked up and took Gray's hand in one of his, as well as Ezra's. He was still and silent for a while, but I could feel the waves of power, and knew he was checking their magical energy. After a while, he released their hands and stepped back.

"I am sorry. Because I didn't want her to fight either. But Erza is the stronger mage." I wrapped my arms around her from behind, my head resting on her shoulder, my hands on her stomach.

"Then I'm going out there too. I'm not letting my wife fight against Sabertooth if I'm just a spectator." Gray opened his mouth to object, but Master Makarov cut him off.

"I was going to suggest you as the final team member, Y/N. Your powers amplify with emotion, much like Juvia's, so if Erza is injured or in danger, that anger will help you on the battlefield. Now," he said, turning to face the others, "does anyone disagree with these selections?" Nobody spoke. The guild master turned back to us. "Then we have our team. Fairy Tail's strongest. Good luck." We waved goodbye as we headed down to the battlefield once more.