A/N Hi Everyone, new girl here! I've been working on this story for some time now and I'm finally in a place where I can share it with you. Yey! I hope you like it, if you do or don't, please let me know, the more I know the better I can become. Thanks a lot! Let's do this!

And as so many others here, I don't own Fairy tail.

Prologue

"Did you hear? Natsu won his fight yesterday." Lisanna said, dripping some water on her hand and slapping it to her hot, sweaty neck, her short white hair stuck to her skin. Lucy gulped water from her own water bottle and lifted her eyebrows.

"Figures." She said and looked away to meet her brown eyes in the full length wall mirror. She was exhausted of course, sweat dripped from her forehead and ran along her back and chest and her blue top was nearly drenched. In her exhaustion she stood hunched over, hands on knees, breathing hard. Her blonde hair was plastered to her face and her cheeks flushed.

Lisanna smiled

"You should totally ask him out." She said. Lucy turned to her.

"Who?" As if she hadn't heard or hadn't made the connection.

"Natsu!" Lisanna said. Lucy turned away again glad that her face was so red that her blush didn't show.

"Two athletes in a relationship? I think the room would implode if we ever found time for each other." She said, Lisanna laughed

"Erza seems to manage though" She said and followed suit with Lucy who put down her water bottle and moved over to the stereo and restart the music.

"Yeah. But Erza doesn't sleep." Lucy said and laughed, hit replay and hurried over to Lisanna's side. They rehearsed for another two hours. Sweat dripped and flung off them as they twirled in perfectly synchronized pirouettes. Their clothes stuck to their bodies, heavy with their exhaustion but they danced on.

Come Monday morning Professor Mira-Jane Strauss would come to inspect their routines and give comments. Prof. Strauss was a kind teacher for sure, always smiling, as long as you didn't disturb her art. When she went down to business and you made a mistake, she would turn into a demon. Lucy had seen this in her first year at Fiore Academy of Sports, the poor boy had run out of the classroom crying because he miss-stepped in a routine and nearly injured his partner. Lucy shuddered at the memory and had to concentrate on her upturned leg in her attitude jump. She landed easily on her right leg and brought her left leg around and in front, her toes perfectly pointed, her leg outturned. Her foot flexed as the music demanded it and she stepped forward into it, her arms coming up at her sides, over her head and to the floor to pull her up in a split handstand. God she loved dancing.

The assignment Prof. Strauss had given them was to create a routine that showed off their technique. This meant, once the routine was done, a lot of slow rehearsal. Their movement had to be perfect, their body position just at the right spot at any given time. Their core had to be as stable as a mountain and they had to move in unison as if they were a glitch in the Matrix. It was hard, but Lucy loved to feel the muscles in her body flex and relax when she moved and release and tense as she brought her leg up and up to align it with the wall in a full split swing around.

A few minutes later the two girls came together, Lucy's back on Lisanna's who slowly moved to the floor while supporting Lucy on their assent as if going to sleep. At the last impact of the music both bodies drew up in grotesque poses, hands and fingers like claws, a leg twisted in an odd angle, eyes intense, hair flinging as the music died down and went silent.

Panting Lucy stood up, her hands on her knees as she breathed deeply. Behind her Lisanna sprawled on the floor panting just as hard as Lucy. One fist flung weakly into the air in a meager triumphant gesture and Lucy chuckled. She nearly collapsed on the floor next to Lisanna but a tingle at the back of her neck made her turn around. Someone had been watching her but she saw nothing behind the wall of windows.

"If Prof. Strauss doesn't like that, I think I might die." Lisanna said and Lucy breathed a laugh.

"I think we'll be fine. Just, you know, try not to faint." She said but was too exhausted to laugh. Lisanna sat up and stared at Lucy, mouth open and gulping air.

"That's easy for you to say, with legs like yours, nothing can go wrong!" Lucy breathed a soft laugh.

"Same goes for your arms." They looked at each other for a moment, laughed and Lucy pulled Lisanna to her feet. They picked up their things and made to head out of the rehearsal room. The prickling feeling at Lucy's neck returned and again, she could see nothing when she turned to look. She walked stiffly to her bag. Her legs were so shaky she had to keep them locked straight the moment they hit the ground or she would surely fall. But this was old news and she made her way to the stereo to pick out the CD and store it in her bag.

Lucy waited at Lisanna at the door and she walked just as stiffly. It looked rather comical Lucy had to admit, but there was simply no way around it. Not after hours and hours of rehearsal. Despite the shakiness in her legs however Lucy was rather fond of the burn in her thighs and arms. It told her that she had done a good job that day.

They stepped out into the deserted and cold corridor. The lights on the pale white walls did little to lighten up the hall. It was already dark outside and it only made it worse. School was open for any student who wanted to train at odd times although, all students were advised to sleep during night hours. Like that was going to happen on a Friday.

"What time is it anyway?" Lucy asked and pulled her bag around to pull out a sweater. Lisanna checked her phone.

"Ten past seven." She said.

"You're coming to Grey's party tonight right?" Lucy asked

"Of course." Lisanna said and followed Lucy's example with a sweater.

"Speak of the devil." Lucy said as they turned a corner and saw Gray at the end, dressed in fitted workout pants and nothing else. His black hair was slick after a workout but somehow still seemed to stick up in angles. It was his lack of clothing that always amazed Lucy and how he managed to be an Ice-runner without wearing clothes was beyond her.

Gray was talking to someone Lucy couldn't see but by the way his finger pointed angrily and his arms flailed it could be none-other than the master MMA fighter, Gray's personal frenemy, the salamander, Natsu Dragneel. Lisanna nudged Lucy in the ribs and Lucy forced away a blush with a broad smile.

The moment they came close enough to see them Natsu's eyes locked with Lucy's but only for a moment. When Natsu didn't respond to Gray's latest insult of 'flame brain' he turned around and greeted them. Lucy shivered at the sight of Gray's bare chest and pulled her sweater closer around herself. How could he not be cold? Natsu wore one of his (apparently) favorite black and gold rimmed shirts with matching pants. His white scaly scarf wrapped comfortable around his neck. His pink hair stuck up in angles but were damp too. He must have gotten out of training recently. His black eyes were intense as always.

"Put on some clothes stripper." Lisanna barked at Gray with a grin and behind him Natsu gaped insisting that those were the very words he had just used. Apparently Lisanna received a different reaction than Natsu as Gray promptly stared down his chest in surprise and yelled

"What the?!"

"I told you it was gone!" Natsu barked from behind Gray but he ignored him.

Lucy looked over to Natsu and smiled wider.

"I heard you won yesterday. Congrats." Natsu glared at Gray for another moment then looked at Lucy. He took a moment to register what she had said then broke out into his famous – toothy – boyish grin that made her heart want to stop.

"The guy didn't even have a chance!" He said grinning and slapped his fist into his palm. "That's what happens when you challenge the Salamander."

"Only an idiot would challenge you in a fair fight." Gray mumbled but Natsu had heard him. He laughed and pointed.

"You challenge me all the time, you just called yourself an idiot, idiot!"

"Only because you're too dense to take a compliment when it's presented to you on a platter, dim wit!" Gray shouted back

"What's it to you?"

"It pisses me off is what!"

"So you wanna go?!"

"Fine!"

Natsu pulled back his first ready to strike, their forehead were pressed together and their gazes to intense it was palpable. Lucy and Lisanna rolled their eyes at each other.

"Oh hey Erza." Lucy suddenly said loudly and the effect was immediate. Within seconds the two men slung their arms around each other's necks and grinned as if they had never had a quarrel in their lives. Lucy and Lisanna laughed at their foolish faces, dripping with restrained anger and walked around them. It took another moment for them to realize… and there was the obligatory

"You tricked us!" From both Natsu and Gray in unison. Lucy waved at them with a smile

"We'll see you at the party!" She called back but her words were drowned out by the men's unison yell of

"Are you copying me?!"

"You should totally ask him out." Lisanna said when they were out of earshot but Lucy shook her head with a smile.

"I think he's more of brunet type of guy." She said in a small voice. She felt Lisanna glaring at her and saw the frown out of the corner of her eye.

"That's the fifth excuse I've heard from you this week." She said.

"Maybe you should stop telling me I should ask him out!" Lucy said and failed to keep a civilized tone. Lisanna chuckled.

"You so like him. I'm totally setting you two up tonight." Lucy's mouth fell open.

"Why would you do that to me Lisanna Strauss?" Lisanna grinned, sped up and ran out of the front double doors of Fiore Academy. Lucy hurried after her, her legs still painfully stiff from that day's training.

"If you do and he rejects me I'll tear you to pieces!" She yelled and chased Lisanna across campus to the tall grey building that contained their shared dorm room.