Chapter Five: Her Perfect Role
Fairy Tail Fanfiction
Character's owned by Hiro Mashima

A/N: Uhm… I haven't updated this in so long. I AM SORRY. Please enjoy this chapter, which is filled with lots of interaction and… yeah… I AM SORRY.

….

"If you want to join this guild, then we're gonna have to give you a role."

"A role?"

Lucy, Makarov and Erza were walking around the circus grounds, monitoring the clean up as the members picked up empty sake cans and wrappers. After their performance, Fairy Tail had a big feast to celebrate, filled with laughs and arguments (mostly by Gray and Natsu) that lasted throughout the night. The guild had only gotten a few hours of sleep, but everyone was still determined to help clean their circus up in preparations for their next show.

Erza nodded, watching as Makarov walked over to Mirajane to lend her a hand, who was struggling to drag three garbage bags full of empty cans into the recycling bin. "Almost everyone in Fairy Tail has a role here. Whether it's by being a mechanic, performer, or stage crew. It's important for everyone to do their part."

She then looked at Lucy and smiled.

"Because the circus is our home."

Lucy stared at the red-haired woman in awe as Erza walked off to approach a couple of circus members in order to thank them for doing their part in the clean up. She watched as one of the members rubbed the back of their neck in embarrassment, and could see how much they admired Erza. It couldn't help make Lucy wonder… Was Erza always this… cool? She didn't understand why Natsu and Gray were so scared of her.

Lucy then clenched both her hands into a fist, looking down at them with determination. "I must also do my best to work hard!"

Erza noticed this out of the corner of her eye and smiled, waving farewell to the members as she walked back to Lucy. "Sorry about that."

Lucy blinked, jumping at Erza's not-so-sudden appearance. Fixing her composure, she laughed, hoping that Erza didn't see her little moment and told her that it was alright. It was nice of her to check up on the members.

"Well of course, I need to make sure that everyone's doing their share. And that nobody's slacking…"

Erza wrinkled her forehead after that statement, which made Lucy curious as to whom she was referring to, but had no chance to ask because Erza quickly cleared her throat and continued.

"Did you have any ideas on what you want to do for this circus?"

Lucy was silent, unable to answer Erza's question as she began to think. She actually hadn't thought that far yet. She remembered being captivated by Natsu's performance and deciding that she wanted to be part of Fairy Tail's circus, but she didn't really think of what her role would be yet.

"Uhm…"

"You should be a performer. You're too pretty to be behind the scenes."

Lucy blushed, shocked at how nonchalant Erza was being. "R-Really? Y-You think so?"

"Certainly. I can't imagine you being a mechanic. I'm sure that being greasy doesn't appeals to you." Erza turned to look at Lucy, who wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought of wearing blue coveralls. "Unless you don't want to perform? Do you have any abilities in technical work?"

"No… I was never taught to do those things. I was always taught how to be a lady, and was forced to take things that were considered elegant."

"Elegant?"

Shit! Lucy covered her mouth, looking at Erza's confused face as she nervously laughed. Why did she have to talk so much? "U-Uhm… I-I mean… I used to take dance lessons! Does that mean anything?"

Still feeling suspicious, Erza decided to drop the subject as she crossed her arms, trying to think how dancing would benefit Lucy. "Dancing? Hmm… Well you could always try -"

She was suddenly interrupted by two loud voices, which were shouting not too far from where Erza and Lucy were standing. From what they were saying, Erza assumed that they were trying to compete about something, which made the red-haired girl sigh and pull on the younger girl's hand. "Eh? Where are we going?" Lucy asked.

"To those slackers that I mentioned before."

….

"GYAHAHA, Gray! I told you I could carry more than you!"

"You…. Haven't…. Beaten me yet!"

Gray grunted as he tried to balance two-dozen planks on his back, beads of sweat accumulating from his forehead as he tried to walk towards the tent. He and Natsu were currently having a contest to see who could carry more, and he'd be damned if he allowed that stupid flame-brain to win.

"You can't do it! Just admit your defeat, you stripper!"

"SHUT UP! You're making me lose my concentration!"

"Just what in heaven's name are you two doing?"

"AHH!"

Both boys jumped when they saw Erza and Lucy walk towards them and began to panic. "N-Nothing! We're being g-good friends as always!" Natsu tried to put his arm around Gray, but Gray quickly shifted away from Natsu. "What the hell! Don't touch me, I'm going to – AHHH!"

His sudden movement had caused the pile of planks to wobble, and Gray was slowly starting to lose his balance as he ran inside the tent. Lucy screamed as she watched Gray bump into one of the tent's poles, making the tent and the planks on his back fall on top of him. A loud crash could be heard, followed by a cry of pain as a cloud of dust rose into the air. When it disappeared, Lucy quickly ran towards the tent, pulling off the cover and screamed to see Gray's body underneath the disaster.

"GRAY!"

"Ugh…"

Lucy, feeling tears swell up, turned to Natsu and Erza, who surprisingly looked calm as they looked at Gray's crumpled body. "We have to get a doctor or something! He's hurt!"

A snicker accidently escaped from Natsu, who smirked at Gray's misfortune. Turning to Erza, he immediately changed his expression when he saw Erza glare at him. "W-What?"

"Just what were you guys doing?"

Natsu put his hands behind his head, shuffling his feet as he tried to stay calm under Erza's hot gaze. Damnit, she was so scary. Why wasn't Happy with him? "Me and Gray got bored putting away the planks so we made it a contest to see who could carry the most. I carried a dozen and put it in the tent safely. S'not my fault ice man lost his balance and destroyed the whole thing."

This answer made Natsu receive a hard punch on the head, which made the fire breather curse as he rubbed his head. "It wasn't my fault!" Receiving another hot gaze, Natsu cowered and bowed his head slightly. "Sorry."

Erza sighed, crossing her arms as she looked at the mess Gray made. "Well, since both of you are at fault, it's your job to put it back up."

"EXCUSE ME!"

Natsu and Erza stared at Lucy, who, for the past few minutes, was trying to get their attention by waving her arms to flag them.

"Why do you look like a chicken?" Natsu asked, tilting his head to the side.

Trying her best to ignore that comment, Lucy screamed, "HELLO! Gray is badly injured here! Why are you guys just standing there, acting like nothing happened? We have to go save him!"

"Who's injured?"

Lucy sharply turned around, and felt her eyes bulge out when she saw Gray stand up, groaning in pain as he rubbed the back of his head. "Man, that's smarts. Thought I was going to die there."

"H-How…" Lucy sputtered, unable to say anything as she noticed that Gray had no injuries. There were only a few scratches and a small stream of blood coming from his forehead. " Unbelievable! He's like a superhuman! He even managed to take his shirt off!

"Jeeze, you managed to survive that crash and take off your shirt while you were under there, huh?" Natsu asked, watching Gray wipe the blood off his forehead with his shirt. "Such a stripper."

"Shut up. I wouldn't have fallen if you didn't try to put your arms around me. And if you hadn't noticed… I made it to the tent. So I win the competition." Gray grinned, watching Natsu's face contort from confusion to realization before the fire breather yelled,

"DID NOT! You crashed inside! That's cheating!"

"You didn't make that part of the rules!"

"That still doesn't count! You couldn't make it, so I win!"

"Idiot!"

"Dumb ass!"

"Grrr…"

Sparks began to fly between the two, and they were prepared to start another fight until Erza stepped in. Hitting the boys on the head (making Gray almost lose conscious), she watched as they rubbed their bumps before pointing a finger at the fallen tent. "You're both idiots. Go fix that tent and put in the planks properly. Lucy and I were discussing about what she could do in the circus until your idiocy ruined my train of concentration."

Natsu perked up, hearing about Lucy and quickly grinned at the girl. "So you really did join Fairy Tail after all!" Lucy nodded, showing the pink insignia that was stamped onto the back of her hand. "I even have the mark now!"

"That's great Luigi!"

"IT'S LUCY! GET IT RIGHT!"

"Anyways…" Gray began, giving Lucy a small smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest. "That's great that you were able to join Fairy Tail. Have you and Erza come up with any ideas on what your role's gonna be?"

"Well-"

Erza interrupted by saying, "We were about to get to that, but couldn't because I had to come here." Giving Natsu and Gray one more look, she rubbed her temples, taking a deep breath as she let her fingers drop back to her side. " Well I did mention that she should be a performer. What do you guys think?"

"I think that's an awesome idea!" Natsu exclaimed, jumping up and down at the image of Lucy on the stage. "You could help me and Happy with our flame act!"

"Uhm…" Lucy remembered how much fire Natsu had burst out in just one show, and chuckled nervously. "No thanks. I think I'd get myself set on fire if I helped you…"

Natsu pouted, but was quickly shoved backwards by Gray as the magician stepped forward. "Well, you could always be my assistant. I could do bigger magic tricks with two assistants by my side."

"Really?" Lucy exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. "That would be wonder-"

"JUVIA DOES NOT ALLOW THAT!"

Everyone turned to stare at the blue-haired assistant, who had come out of her hiding spot and was now marching towards Lucy. "Only Juvia can be Gray-sama's assistant. JU-VI-A." By the time she was in front of Lucy, she narrowed her eyes, making Lucy feel nervous as she tried to look to Gray for help. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"Juvia will not allow this! You like Gray-sama don't you? My rival in love!"

This made both Gray and Lucy sputter, their cheeks colouring as Lucy shook her head and waved her hands in denial. "N-No! Nothing like that is going on!"

"Yah, don't spew out random nonsense! I was just asking her if she wanted to be my assistant!."

As if lightning had struck Juvia, the blue-haired girl gasped as she turned to look at Gray. Tears fell down from the girl's eyes. "E-Eh? I-Is Gray-sama not happy with Juvia? Has Juvia been doing a bad job?" She then turned around, bending down so that her rear was facing the magician. "You can punish J-Juvia if you want! Juvia doesn't mind!"

This made Gray turn cherry-bomb red, making Natsu, Erza, and Lucy stare at him in confusion.

"Do you… always do this Gray?" Erza asked, cracking her knuckles dangerously.

"NO! I don't know what the hell she's talking about! GAH! STOP doing that!"

"But Gray-sama~"

Gray, unable to handle the situation any further, began to run away from Juvia, who proceeded to chase after him with her arms close to her chest. Her cries of wanting Gray to punish her rang throughout the circus, which made Lucy sweat-dropped as she laughed out of confusion. "That was really weird…" she mumbled, looking at Natsu, who was cleaning his ear as he nodded in agreement.

"Indeed."

Silence filled the air between the three, which was soon quickly broken when Erza's sharp ears heard another cry. She sighed, hoping that it wasn't another group of circus members doing another "competition". She then turned to Natsu and Lucy, waved to them goodbye and started to walk off.

"Sorry Lucy, it looks like another group needs me. I'll be back later, so you can tell me what you have decided by then. We need to start your training right away."

She then looked between Natsu and Lucy, a small smile creeping her feature as she patted the busty blonde on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure Natsu can help you."

"E-Eh? B-But!"

Lucy could only watch as Erza's figure grew smaller and smaller, making the seventeen-year-old girl sigh as she watched whom she was left with. The fire breather was staring at something on his finger, giving it a two second glance before flicking it on the ground. Eww. So gross.

Why do I have to be stuck with this guy?

"Natsu?" Lucy called, perking the said man's ears as he turned to look at her. "Do you wanna walk around? We can check to see what other people are doing."

"Sure, why not?"

Giving her his signature grin, he put his hands behind his head once more as he started to walk towards a random direction. Lucy quickly followed, and the two began to discuss on what Natsu thought would be the perfect role for Lucy. She was surprised that Natsu was actually trying to think for her, and found it slightly endearing that he cared enough to help her out. If only the roles he suggested just weren't so… dangerous.

….

"Sword eater?"

"Isn't that what Erza does?"

"No, she sword dances. That's a different thing."

"Oh. Err… no thanks. I don't want to be choking on pointy things…"

"Lion tamer?"

"Sounds frightening."

"Elephant?"

"Seriously?"

Natsu sighed out of exasperation, scratching his head as he glared at Lucy. "Jeeze, you keep rejecting all my ideas! We've been at this for an hour now!"

"Well I wouldn't keep rejecting them if you would stop giving me such weird roles!"

"Hey, I'm sure being an elephant is tough! They gotta carry people and stuff!"

"Natsu, are you even listening to what I'm saying?"

As the two continued to argue, they didn't seem to realize that they had walked into Elfman's tent, who was currently busy cleaning a cannon. Humming, the strong man went to find another rag when he noticed yellow and pink standing near him. "Oh, Lucy, Natsu! What brings you here?"

"Huh?" Turning his head to look at the voice, Natsu saw Elfman walk towards him and waved. "Oh hi, Elfman! Didn't notice that we were in your tent!" Ignoring Lucy, he then noticed the shiny cannon and dropped his jaw. "OOOH, what's that?" Natsu asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling as he ran towards the cannon and began to touch it. (Which made Elfman frown as he had just finished cleaning it.)

Throwing the rag into a bucket, Elfman smirked as he put his hands on his hips. "Oh that? That's a cannon. I was hoping to show Master, so that we could put it in the next show. It's very manly, huh? It can shoot out people."

"Really? Where are you suppose to shoot them?"

Elfman then directed Natsu to the net that was set up on the other side of the tent. It was about a kilometre in distance, and was large enough to support someone with Elfman's weight. "You shoot them over there. I've already tested it out myself. It's pretty safe."

"Oh really~" A devious glint went into Natsu's eyes as he turned to look at Lucy, who was currently looking at another direction. He then turned to Elfman and innocently asked, "Is there some kind of suit that you wear for protection?"

Elfman pointed to the red, white and blue one piece that was sitting on the bench. "Of course. It's not manly to do something dangerous without protection. You're supposed to wear this, since it's fireproof. Won't make your clothes singe."

"Interesting~"

Bolting to the bench, Natsu scooped up the one piece that was sitting on the bench and eagerly went up towards Lucy. Tapping the girl on the shoulder, the girl couldn't even mutter a, "What?" before he shoved her to the corner of the tent, where the changing room was, and closed the curtains in front of her. Throwing the suit over, he yelled, "Put this on! I think I know what you can do!"

"Wha? Really? Wait, why do I need to put on this suit?"

"Just do it!"

A few minutes later, Lucy opened the curtains and walked out, wrinkling her eyebrows in confusion as she scratched her sides. The suit was too big for her, and covered her hands. She found it difficult to walk in as she tried to hop towards Elfman and Natsu. They both looked eager about something, making Lucy suspicious as she yanked her pants up. "Why am I wearing this? It's too big on me."

"Oh, you'll see~"

"Natsu, you're acting – ACK!" All of a sudden, Natsu had swung Lucy over his shoulder, and proceeded to carry her to the cannon. "W-What are you doing?" She asked, trying to keep her cool as she felt Natsu put her into a cylinder. It constricted her movements, and made Lucy feel uncomfortable as she tried to wiggle free. "W-Wha? What is this? NATSU DRAGONEEL GET ME OUT OF HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"But why, Luce?" Natsu said, grabbing the helmet from Elfman's hand as he roughly squished it on Lucy's head. Buckling and making sure it was tight, Natsu was chuckling with excitement as he stood back to admire his work. "I thought you wanted to discover your perfect role in Fairy Tail?"

"Yah I do, but I have no idea what's happening right now. What is this? And why the hell did you put this helmet on me!"

Ssss…

Lucy could hear a fire suddenly start, making the girl panic as her struggles began to become frantic. Why was this happening to her? Damnit Natsu, you were supposed to help me out! Just what have you gotten me into? "NATSU, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ONCE I GET OUT OF THIS. JUST WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"It's simple. You're gonna get shot out of a cannon."

Oh no.

"WHAT! NAT-SU. GET ME OUT OF HERE SO I COULD MURDER YOU!"

"But Lucy~ Don't you want to see if you fit this role? It looks fun! I wish I was in your position right now!"

"THEN WHY AREN'T YOU IN THIS?"

"Because." Looking behind her, he noticed that the string behind the cannon was getting shorter and shorter, and finally gave Lucy one last look. "You look cute in that suit."

"W-What?"

"HUMAN CANNON BALL!"

Lucy could feel something explode behind her as she was suddenly propelled in the air. Natsu burst out laughing, watching Lucy screamed bloody murder as tears streamed down her eyes. "AAAAHH NATSU I'M-GOING-TO-GET-YOU-FOR-THIS-ONCE-I-LAND AHHHHHHH"

Elfman cupped his hands beside his mouth and yelled, "LUCY! YOU ARE SO (WO)MANLY!"

"AAAHHH!"

Her world started to spin as she felt herself coming down at an incredible speed, her vision blurring as she watched the net come closer and closer. Whether she landed or not, she couldn't remember, for her eyes rolled to the back of her head and everything surrounding her turned black.

….

"THAT IDIOT!"

Lucy stomped angrily away from the tent, Natsu's blood dripping from her knuckles as she furiously adjusted her clothes. She had woken up sputtering water, after getting splashed by a worried Elfman and a panicking Natsu. She didn't even give him time to apologize as she had quickly proceeded to beat the crap out of him.

"I AM NEVER GOING TO TRUST HIM AGAIN! I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! ARGGH!"

Kicking a bucket of water, Lucy continued to stomp the circus grounds, shaking her fists. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. The more she thought about him, the more she got angry, and Lucy let out another scream as she finally found a random square of haystack to sit on. Crossing her legs and arms out of irritation, she remembered Natsu's last words before her fist made contact with his face.

"I-I thought you wanted to find out your perfect role! W-Wasn't that fun?"

"As if being a human cannon ball is something I want to do! Stupid, so stupid! Aghhh!" Grabbing her head, she put her gaze down and huffed, taking a few minutes to regulate her breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. Sitting in silence, she could feel her anger slowly diminish, and tried her best to block out any images of the fire Salamander. How he had laughed at her when she got shot out of the cannon. How he had made her wear that ridiculous looking suit. How he looked when he said that she looked cute.

This made Lucy widen her eyes at the sudden realization that Natsu had called her cute. Natsu Dragoneel. Calling Lucy cute. Her heart began to beat irregularly, and she cursed herself for feeling like this as she patted herself in the chest, trying to make it stop. "D-Damnit… he probably only said that to catch me off guard…"

While Lucy was busy trying to convince herself that Natsu's cute comment was just a joke, she didn't notice Lisanna stare at her from a distance, scrubbing an elephant. She tilted her head in curiosity when she recognized the blonde. What was Lucy doing here? Hosing the elephant, she put her supplies down on the floor and started to walk towards the girl, who was making weird faces for some strange reason. Did something happen? She couldn't help but feel a small pang in her heart when she heard the blonde mutter out Natsu's name. Trying her best not to falter, she waited until Lucy finally calmed down before tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" Lucy looked up; her brown orbs staring at blue ones. "Oh, Lisanna!" She called out, standing up to greet the girl. "W-What brings you here? Y-You didn't see anything did you?"

"This is where I wash the elephants," Lisanna explained, as she extended her arm to showcase the elephant she was washing. Chuckling at Lucy's shocked expression, she shrugged her shoulders when Lucy asked her a question, and said, "I'm not sure what you mean. Unless you're talking about the little spasm you were having for a moment."

"S-Spasm?" Lucy felt embarrassment wash over her as she looked down, tapping her two index fingers together. "I-I wasn't spazzing…"

"Ehh, it's okay! It's not like I'll tell anyone! Did something interesting happen?"

"U-Uhm… you could say that…"

Lisanna plopped herself onto one of the squares of haystack, and patted Lucy to sit down beside her. Obliging, Lucy slowly sat herself down, and felt herself jerk back when Lisanna brought her face close to hers.

"W-What?"

"You can tell me Lucy!" Lisanna said, giving her a smile. "I won't tell anyone!"

"W-Well, it's not really embarrassing… it's just…" Lucy took a deep breath and sighed. "Was Natsu always so weird?"

This caught Lisanna off guard for a moment, but she quickly changed her shocked expression back into a smile and answered. "Well, it depends on what you mean by weird."

"Like, he'll put you into dangerous situations that almost kill you?"

This made Lisanna giggle, as she recalled the times that her and Natsu would make Mirajane mad when they were younger. "I guess you can say that. Natsu can be kind of reckless. But he means well." Lucy slumped her shoulders, making Lisanna instinctively rub the girl's back in a comforting way. "Did he do something?" Lisanna asked. "I can beat him up for you if you want."

"No need, I already did." With that, Lucy chuckled weakly and continued, "He sent me blasting off from Elfman's cannon, thinking I'd have loads of fun if I was a human cannon ball. Almost scared me to death." Hearing Lisanna giggle, Lucy pouted, but began to laugh as well when she looked at Lisanna's face. She was so pretty. "He was trying to help me find a role in Fairy Tail, but I didn't think he would go to such extents…"

"A role?" Lisanna blinked, feeling confused for a moment until her eyes caught sight of Lucy's pink tattoo. Oh that's right. She's joined the circus. "Well, maybe perhaps I can be of help. What is it that you want to do exactly?"

"Mmm…" Lucy paused, giving herself time to think before she answered, "Well, I want to perform. And something that deals with dancing, I guess? I don't know…"

Nodding, Lisanna pursed her lips, trying to think of a role that dealt with dancing. There wasn't really much dancing in the circus. It was mostly acrobatics and tricks. But seeing Lucy's devastated face, she racked her brain to think of something that was appropriate for her. Well there was always…

"Stand up for a second." Lisanna gently pulled Lucy up to her feet, and looked at her from top to bottom. Leading Lucy to a barrel, she carefully put the barrel to its side and placed a large wooden plank on top of it. "Walk on that."

"Eh?"

"Just walk. Don't worry, it's not going to be dangerous. I can hold your hand if you like."

Gently squeezing onto Lisanna's hand, Lucy slowly walked up towards the plank, her free arm flapping for a moment as she tried to control her balance. The further she walked, the more difficult she found it to be, but she somehow managed to gracefully put herself in the middle and balance herself onto the wooden plank. "This isn't so bad." Lucy stated, finding her centre of gravity as she let go of Lisanna's hand. The barrel suddenly started to roll, which made Lucy squeak as she struggled to regain her balance. When she finally did, her eyes brightened, feeling proud of herself as she started to spin on the plank. "Look, Lisanna! I'm balancing!"

The white-haired girl applauded her, her smile growing bigger as she watched Lucy walk down the plank and finish with a bow. "I noticed! You have really good balance because of your dance lessons. You know, maybe you should be Fairy Tail's tight ropewalker."

"A tight ropewalker?" Lucy had never thought of that. She remembered seeing images of tight ropewalkers, and started to shake at the idea of being a few hundred metres away from the ground. "D-Don't you have to be really high though?"

"Well yah, but you get to wear super cute outfits every time you go on stage. We have an awesome costume designer. Plus you get a parasol."

That was all the encouragement Lucy needed, before she pumped her fist in the air. "OKAY! LOOK OUT WORLD! FAIRY TAIL'S GOT A NEW TIGHT ROPEWALKER IN TOWN!"