𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 // 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙩

You leant on the exterior wall of Bar Sun. You had originally opted to stay at Team B's inn, but Juvia may or may not have pressured you into making an appearance.

You had done so, and were now standing outside with Kuschel at your side.
"So, Kuschel... what did you do today?" you asked the calico-patterned Exceed.
"I went to have a look around!" she replied. "and it turns out... this arena is really big!"

You could hear the loud commotion coming from inside of the bar and sighed, shaking your head, though you still smiled at Fairy Tail's antics. They were still the same guild you knew seven years ago, thankfully. You heard Gramps toasting to our future victory of the Grand Magic Games.

"Kuschel... d'you ever wonder what it was like to face Acnologia on Tenroujima?" you asked quietly.
"I don't like to think about it." Kuschel responded. "if the Dragon Slayers on Tenroujima couldn't slay him, then it must have been a big deal."

"You're right." you said. "but... I think they could have done it. If I had been there."
"And why's that?" your Exceed asked curiously, looking up at you with round, green eyes.

"Because. I have a Sound Dragon lacrima, don't I? I can use the Dragon Force at will. I can use Sound Drive." you explained. "I could have beaten him, if only I had gone with them..."

"Please don't blame yourself, [Y/N]!" Kuschel said. "I-I don't like it when you're sad!"
"I'm not sad, Kuschel." you replied, standing up. "I just want to defeat Acnologia for hurting our guild that way."

She looked up at you, eyes wide.
"I agree!" she said, her shocked expression morphing into a determined one.
"Now... let's go get those flowers you said you wanted to get for me." you smiled.

You picked her up and cradled her in one arm, whilst the other hung limp at your side. There was a series of crashes and bangs behind you, and something fell on you.

"Sound Dragon Clamouring Fist!" you shouted in a slight frenzy, punching whoever had gotten near. You looked down to see a drunkard - a muscular, olive-skinned man with black, slicked back hair. On his back was the Quatro Cerberus logo in red. He had a light teal-blue bikini top hooked around his fingers, you recognised it as Cana's.

"Watch where you're walking!" you glared, holding Kuschel protectively before walking away into the night.

// Time Skip //
// 1st P.O.V //

Day Two of the Grand Magic Games involved an event called Chariot. I had volunteered myself for Fairy Tail Team B, and had scrapped with Gajeel for the position. I had won.

"I'm gonna win this for you, Kuschel!" I had grinned. "And for all of Fairy Tail!"

At the beginning of the event, though... I knew I had messed up by fighting with Gajeel over it.

"Far behind the leading group is Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail Team A, looking incredibly groggy!" Chapati announced. "and he isn't alone! Just steps ahead of him is [Y/N L/N] of Fairy Tail Team B, and Sting Eucliffe of Sabertooth, both also looking incredibly groggy!"

"I-I should've..." I whined. I could hear Sting groaning beside me.

"This... urgh... was s-stupid of me..." I huffed, before looking to my side at the blond-haired Sabertooth mage. "A-are you okay?..."

"I-I'm fine, [Y/N] - urp - don't go... worryin' about me..." Natsu burped.
"I-I wasn't talking to... y-you." I replied.

"Of course... I'm fine..." Sting groaned. "there's no reason... I wouldn't be..."
We trudged along in silence, apart from the seemingly background noise of the crowd cheering and the loud groaning coming from both of the other Dragon Slayers.

Natsu began to move forward, eventually passing Sting and coming side-by-side with me. Together, we left Sting behind us a few metres.

"I gotta... move forward!" Natsu shouted. "F-forward!!"
I shakily looked back at Sting, shaking my head slightly, before reaching an arm out for him.
"C-c'mon!" I exclaimed. He looked at my hand, eyes wide. "t-take my goddamn hand!"

He actually reached out for me and I gripped his hand, when Natsu looked back and yanked me away.

"[Y/N], what're you doing?! You're supposed to be winning this for us, not helping the enemy beat us!" he shouted. I looked back at Sting and sighed.

"Fine. W-we don't need this win, anyway. We don't need some m-measly one or two points!" Sting played off Natsu's rejection of my offering.

I frowned. "F-fine. Don't go crying over you missing point later."

"J-just... answer me one question." he spoke up. Natsu and I looked around.

"Why did you guys even come to the Games?" the blond asked. "I'd never imagine the old Fairy Tail doing that... It's like, now you care about how strong you are, or what other people think..."

"The Fairy Tail I knew marched to their own beat. They never gave a crap what anybody thought!" he continued.

"It's for my friends!" Natsu burst out as we gently crawled to our motion sickness deaths. "for seven years... all that time... they waited for us! It was hard on them... they had sad times... they got humiliated, but they just endured it... and kept protecting the guild!"

I felt my eyes tear up.
"Natsu..." I choked out, looking over at the Fire Dragon Slayer and gripping the wooden boards that were below us. The motion sickness I felt seemed to disappear for a few heartbeats as he spoke.

"It's for my friends!" he yelled again. "I want to show them... that Fairy Tail will live on! That's why I gotta move forward!"

The pink-haired man threw himself across the finish line, earning Fairy Tail Team A two points. I followed right after him, earning one point for Team B.

"Sabertooth's Sting is out of the running with zero points!" Chapati declared.

The audience was moved to tears, Fairy Tail mostly. Master Makarov was sobbing loudly, like a child. I could hear so many people reconsidering their original thoughts about our guild.

"Natsu!!" I cried, throwing my arms around him tightly. "you pink pyromaniac, I love you!"