Chapter 113: The Team

                                    

                                          
Natsume's pov
After that night on the beach, we continuously kept training. Three months passed and we all finally finished training, which was a relief to Kosuke and Chase. Both of them looked exhausted as we headed back to the Guild Hall, I was excited to see how everyone else improved over the past three months. "Thank god, we finally are done." Kosuke complained, "I'm right there with you. I'm beat." Chase hunched over slightly, looking exhausted. "Me three," Satomi sighed, "Well, we did endure a lot of pain." Erza said, "We honestly got lucky that those three showed up when they did. We would have been essentially useless to our guildmates and far behind the other guilds who will be competing at the games." Satoru mentioned. "There's no telling how much stronger the other guilds in Fiore have gotten in the Seven years you were all gone when you were trapped on Tenrou Island." Satoru spoke up, I could see where he was coming from but it made me really excited about the possible challenges we were going to face in these games Lucky was sleeping in my arms, she had gone through with the ritual as well so she was pretty much drained. "I still can't believe Lucky was brave enough to go through with the ritual after she saw all of us go through all that pain," Satomi said, looking over at Lucky. 
"Yeah, me neither." Lucy agreed.
"She's brave." Gray smiled, patting Lucky's head gently as she slept. "Yeah, she is." I smiled down at her, "She must have gotten that from you." Wendy spoke up. 
"Maybe... She wasn't always this brave. When she was younger, she was terrified of everything. I'm proud of how much she has grown in the years that we've been together." I explained, "She really used to be afraid of everything?" Natsu asked, "Yes. She was even afraid of her own wings when she first hatched. I used to find it so funny but I knew laughing at her every time she freaked out was very damaging to her confidence. So I took it upon myself to help her overcome her fear of everything." 
"And now she scolds you like Carla scolds Wendy." Natsu chuckled.
"Yeah, she does. She learned to take responsibility for my actions after I nearly blew up one-half of a building of the magic school I was attending." I shrugged.
"You blew up half a building at a magic school?!" Kosuke shouted.
"You went to school?!" Chase asked, looking shocked. "Yes, she did. I don't know why you are so surprised by this when you already found out about this years ago." Satoru sweatdropped. "to answer your question, yes, I did. But it was a complete accident. I lost control and accidentally blew up the lab." Everyone sweatdropped as they heard my explanation, "Who knew you could be so destructive?"
I chuckled at Chase's facial expression as his brother mocked him for being so stupid. I knew that Master Makarov was probably to tell us who was on the teams for the Grand Magic Games, I just hoped that I might be one of them. When we arrived at the Guild Hall, we were shocked to see just how many of our guildmates had changed in appearance. Especially Elfman, he bulked up heavily which meant he must have trained very hard. "Wow, Elfman. You look good," I spoke, "Thanks, Natsume. It's nice to see you all. Where have you been?" He asked as Lisanna wrapped me in a hug, "We've been training. It's kind of a long story though," Chase scratched the back of his head, this got everyone to start talking about their training and how much stronger they have gotten in the last three months. I knew that Natsu was just as pumped as I was about the Grand Magic Games, we both had made a promise to give it our all. The rest of the guild members were wrapped up in conversations about how much their months of training improved their skills, I was very happy to see how happy they seemed. After all, we went through a lot in the past year and a lot of our team was trapped on that island for Seven years. Natsu hasn't told me much about what they experienced on that Island, all I really knew was that they had a lot of fighting. Lucy told me that they had to deal with a Dark guild and that they had to fight a huge dragon named Acnologia. I had heard of Acnologia before, he was a huge dragon that everyone tended to avoid. They were terrified of him and rightfully so, he's scary and he's strong.
"Hey, you guys finally got here." I turned my head to the left, inwardly groaning as I spotted Keiko coming over. That girl is way too obsessed with my twin, she's like Juvia in a way. Speaking of Juvia, the two of us had only gotten closer during the three months leading up to now. "Yeah," Lucy smiled, Natsu turned his attention off our guild mate and looked over at us. He waved at Keiko, I could see that she wanted to pounce on him. But after the last time she did that, I don't think she'll do it again. "Where did you guys go?" Keiko asked, "We went to train at the beach. It's actually kind of a long story." Chase said, putting his hands in his pockets. "What about you? You left the same day we did for the Beach. Where did you go?" Satomi asked, "I went to visit a friend. I hadn't seen them in a while and there were a lot of rumors coming out about her town." She explained, brushing her hair back. When she moved her hair, I noticed that she had changed her hair color. It was no longer blonde, now it was a dark brown color which seemed to fit her face well.
"Did everything go alright? Is your friend okay?" Gray asked, "Kind of. There was a lot that happened over the past three months."
"You stayed there for three months?" Chase asked, "Yeah, my friend needed me." 
"Did you even get a chance to train over the past few months?" Wendy asked, "Yes, I did. I had another friend who helped me train. Though, I'm not sure I'm exactly ready to fight in a tournament against other guilds just yet." She chuckled nervously, all of us just sweatdropped as she scratched the back of her neck. "Can I have everyone's attention?" Master Makarov called, everyone turned to look at Master Makarov who had papers in his hand. First, he commended everyone for their hard work and told us to head inside, I knew that he was proud of how much everyone had grown in their own ways over the course of the past three months. I could barely hold back my excitement, I knew he was going to tell us who was on the team. "Oh, I can't wait for Grand Magic Games to start. I really hope he picked me as a part of the team!" I sang, Gray chuckled at my enthusiasm as Lucky sat on his shoulder. She had woken up after we had gotten back to the Guild Hall, she still seemed very groggy from her nap so she probably wasn't too sure what was going on. 
"Whoa there, Sume. Calm down." Satoru said.
"I don't think she can, Satoru. She's been very excited about the games since Romeo told us about it. You saw how she was when we were training on the beach." Satomi replied, "I think it's adorable that she's this excited." Gray smiled as I turned to Satoru and Chase. "Just think of all the crazy challenges we possibly could have... And the crazy strong guilds we'll have to face. I'm pumped about trying out my new strength on them. We're going to definitely be challenged, it's so exciting." I ranted, Gray chuckled at my enthusiasm. "Yeah, that's the spirit." Natsu high-fived me, the two of us definitely way too excited. I didn't notice how fondly Gray was looking at me since I was too invested in hyping Natsu and the rest of our guild up about the Grand Magic Games. 
"I hope that I get picked," Natsu said.
"Me too." Gray agreed, "Who do you think Master Makarov chose to compete?" Satomi asked, "Well, I have some ideas about who might be on the team." Satoru held his chin, thinking about the group. "Who?" Satomi asked, without saying a word looked at Natsu and I.
"Who? Us?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him, "Yeah. I have a few others who might have been picked." Satoru nodded.
"The announcement that I have to make is for those who will be competing in the Grand Magic Games." He started, and I excitedly grabbed my twin's shoulders. "The team will be: Lucy, Erza, Gray, Natsu, Natsume, and Wendy." As soon as he said the members of the team, I immediately started freaking out. "YES!!!!" I shouted, startling most of my guildmates standing around me. Erza and Chase both let out an amused chuckle as I shook Natsu back and forth, "We're on the same team and we get to battle other guilds!!!" Natsu smiled, laughing as I continued shaking him. The two of us started hyping our team up, both Lucy and Wendy both surprised by Master Makarov's decision to have them competing in the games as well. "I didn't think I would get picked," Lucy commented, "Me neither." Wendy agreed. "What? You guys have proven how strong you really are. You totally deserve it." I said, "We do?" Lucy asked, "Yes, you do." I nodded, Wendy who still seemed unsure looked to Master Makarov while I heard Elfman crying in the background. He seemed very disappointed that he didn't end up on the team. "Why didn't you choose Laxus or Gajeel?" Wendy asked, I was also wondering that as well. "They aren't back yet." Master Makarov stated. "Master picked the team based on his decision on teamwork." Erza comforted Lucy, "I will restore our guild's reputation." Erza vowed. "This is going to be one hell of a tournament." Kosuke said, "Yeah, it will." 
"Let's go! Team Natsu is going to the Grand Magic Games!!" I shouted, Natsu fist-bumped me as we all cheered.