After having the small chit-chat with the asshole Saber, you went back down to the lobby and get a different seat, but all the seats were taken, unfortunately. You let out a groan, going back to the stadium to take your original seat.

Luckily, all the teams were down in the arena. The new Fairy Tail team came out and the crowd went wild. You were very happy for them. They've come a long way in just a few days.

The battle match-ups included Blue Pegasus versus Quatro Puppy, Lamia Scale versus Mermaid Heel, and the long awaited match, Fairy Tail versus Sabertooth.

First up was Bacchus and Rocker versus Ichiya and Rabbit. It also seemed that Bacchus had finally gotten his bandages removed.

Unsurprisingly, Ichiya and the Rabbit appeared in front of the Quatro Puppy duo and shook their hands. Ichiya creeped you out, but if one thing is for certain, he does have really good sportsmanship.

You watched in anticipation as the Rabbit started unveiling his identity... and then nearly threw up. Just because he had good sportsmanship, didn't mean you wanted two of him.

"I have got to get out of this country," you breathed.

Ichiya and Nichiya went on to tell the story of how they met, and eventually got interrupted by Bacchus' palm to Nichiya's face. As it turned out, Nichiya couldn't fight and was knocked out clean. The duo hit Ichiya with many attacks, and surprisingly knocked him out, or so everyone thought. You knew better, since he was the strongest member of Blue Pegasus.

Ichiya inhaled one of his magic parfumes and became huge. Bacchus and Rocker came at him again, but Ichiya smiled, taking them by surprise, and the knocked them out with one hit. Once again, you were surprised, since Bacchus was the strongest in Quatro Puppy.

Next was Lyon and Yuka versus Kagura and Milliana.

"C'mon Milliana!" You yelled with a big smile on your face. She glanced over, but quickly looked over to the glaring woman behind her. You tilted your head, glancing at the female swordsman and neko. What problem did they have with you?

You felt eyes on you so you glanced over, only to see Sting's navy eyes on you. You glared and he quickly turned his head back to the arena, and you couldn't help but roll your eyes. You did notice how his demeanor seemed... sad. You almost felt bad. Almost. But as someone who had been beaten and embarrassed before, you easily regained your composure and how you felt about him at what he did.

The fight started and Milliana attacked first, but Lyon and Yuka easily dodged. It seemed that Kagura was letting Milliana do the work, and that the neko really looked up to the woman.

They sent attack after attack at each other, but Lyon distracted Milliana with a mouse made of ice, and ended up defeating her. Kagura then came out to fight the duo. She easily overwhelmed Yuka without even drawing her sword, defeating him. Then it was Lyon versus Kagura.

Lyon sent multiple attacks after her, but she nimbly dodged and hit him pretty hard, knocking him back. After some words of encouragement from Gray, Lyon made three animals made from ice. Kagura was forced to use Gravity Change and sent them all flying upward, where she sliced the three animals in half. As soon as her sword came down on the snow-haired male, the bell for the 30 minute mark rung.

Next was the long-awaited battle. Natsu and Gajeel versus Sting and Rogue.

Both duos made their way to the center of the field. You could tell by his eyes, that Sting's dream had yet to change. He still longed to beat Natsu. You, however, knew he would lose. Pride and arrogance blinds people. His cockiness will be his downfall if he doesn't change soon.

As soon as the battle started, Sting and Rogue went after Natsu and Gajeel. The Fairy Tail duo, however, were faster, and punched them. Sting recovered and used a dragon's roar, but Natsu dodged. Simultaneously, Rogue attacked Gajeel, but the Iron Dragon Slayer easily blocked.

You put a hand to your mouth when you heard that they both killed their dragons. Why would they do that? They were lucky to have parents that actually gave them a childhood, and then they took their lives? Sting was worse than you thought. You couldn't believe that you actually went on a date with him.

The Twin Dragons powered up with what they called 'White Drive' and 'Shadow Drive.' Their magic power levels went even higher than they already were.

Sting attacked first, sending a barrage of punches Natsu's way. Both Saber's were really fast, and you almost had a hard time keeping your eyes on them. They noticeably had the upper hand, but you knew better. Natsu (you weren't so sure about Gajeel, not knowing much about him) had yet to get serious. However, it was obvious who had the better teamwork, Sting and Rogue.

The blond-haired mage hit Natsu with an attack different than his last ones. The salmon-haired mage wasn't able to move due to a white stigma on his abdomen. 'So that's what he used...'

Just as he came at him with another attack, Natsu punched him, and the tables once again turned. Apparently Natsu burned the stigma off, judging by the rising smoke of his stomach.

Sting started getting cocky (again, shocker). He stuck his palm out, and it seemed as though he was focusing his magic into one spot... which reminded you of your combat magic. Not to mention, his fighting style was similar to yours. Had you influenced his life this much?

He then used a secret art called 'Holy Nova,' creating a huge blast. He was much more powerful than he seemed, but it still wasn't enough. Once the dust cleared, it was revealed that Natsu had taken the blast, but also caught Sting's fist. He seemed completely unfazed contrary to his opponent's shocked face. Both Sting and Rogue were knocked down to the ground by the Fairy Tail pair's attacks. They recovered from it, however.

Sting and Rogue's power amped up even more after activating Dragon Force. As much as you hated to admit it, that really impressed you. You didn't know that it was possible for a dragon slayer to willingly activate it, but they took you by surprise.

You resisted the urge to facepalm once you heard the blond declare a one on two battle, however.

He actually seemed to be doing pretty well, easily dodging and blocking a barrage of attacks from both Natsu and Gajeel. He attacked them both, and then jumped up into the air. He used White Dragon: Holy Breath, which just seemed to be a better version of dragon's roar. It incased the whole arena in light, forcing you to shield your eyes.

The ground collapsed, sending Natsu, Gajeel, Rogue, and Sting all falling below the stadium. A lacrima screen appeared, showcasing both pairs of dragon slayers. The fight continued. Salamander and Black Steel landed a few attacks, but Sting bested them again.

3rd POV-

'Despite earlier... things are going perfect now.' Sting grinned, watching as the dust slowly cleared from his attack on Natsu and Gajeel. 'I will fulfill my promise to you Lector. If I can beat Natsu, I could do anything! Even get (F/n) back... Then, I'll have all I ever wanted!'

Sting thought back on the time that he promised Lector that he'd beat Salamander so that everyone would believe his little buddy.

"Are you watching, Lector?" He raised his fist high as he stared down at the duo from Fairy Tail who were lying on the ground.

"Not so fast..."

'What..?'

2nd POV-

"HA!" You let out a boisterous laugh, wiping the sweat off your brow as you watched Natsu and Gajeel slowly get up. Everyone sweat dropped as they watched Natsu and Gajeel start fighting over whether or not Sting pivots his foot 10 o'clock, or 11 o'clock.

"Actually it's 10:30, but whatever," you mumbled under your breath.

Your eyebrow twitched in annoyance as Natsu pushed Gajeel into a mine cart and pushed him down a track. "That idiot."

Natsu dodged and blocked attack after attack, and assaulted the Twin Dragons with his own powerful kicks and punches, easily overwhelming them. Sting and Rogue backed up, and started preparing for a powerful Unison Raid. Finally they finished preparing the attack and sent it after the Fire Dragon Slayer, who started countering with his own attack, Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade.

Everyone was practically on the edge of their seats, waiting for the dust to clear to show who won.

The dust cleared as Sting and Rogue stumbled, falling to the ground in defeat.

"Hopefully, you'll learn from this, Sting," you mumbled with a sad smile. Fairy Tail now reigned in first place with 45 points, while Sabertooth was right behind with 44.

You stood from your seat and exited the arena to the inside, not expecting a red cat to run into you, sobbing.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" You bent down, only to notice that this was Sting's exceed.

The cat glanced up at you. "(F-F/n)..." He swiftly wiped away his tears. "N-Nothing!"

You chuckled. "It's okay to cry... Lector, was it? I cry almost every other week. Sometimes even more than that! Embarrassing, right? Except, it's not. Because you know what? Sadness is completely normal. Same with crying."

Lector slowly started breaking, sniffles becoming more evident.

"Come here. I won't tell anyone that you're crying, okay?" You took him into your arms, letting him sob into your chest. You backed up to sit against the wall.

"Promise?" He looked up at you. Your heart hurt at the sight.

"Pinky promise," you held your pinky out. He took it with a slight chuckle, but went back to his head buried in your chest.

"What do you cry over?"

"Phew. A lot of dumb crap," you laughed. "I'll cry over those sad dog commercials. I cried two weeks ago over my favorite book character from my favorite series dying. I could cry right now just thinking about it, honestly. I cry every time that I see the Notebook. A lot of stuff, honestly. But I'm a pretty sensitive person."

"In Sabertooth, crying is considered weak..." he sniffled.

You scoffed. "Well that's dumb. A load of bull. Take this from the tenth Wizard Saint. Crying is not weak, and they can shove my words up their butts. How bout that?"

Lector laughed, but soon turned sad again. "I'm sad that Sting lost. Defeating Natsu was his dream."

You frowned at the red exceed. "I, personally, don't think loss is a bad thing. You learn from losses and mistakes. I've lost plenty of times. I'm going to lose more in the future. I'm actually supposed to battle Jura soon, and am I gonna lose? More than likely, but I'm okay with that. It gives me things to improve on. Negating weakness does not equal strength, and that is your guild master's biggest issue."

"Then... what is considered strong and weak?"

"Hm... Going off of Sting's fight... Sting is very passionate and ambitious. He has a lot of fighting spirit, which can be a good trait to have. He's also stubborn, which can be either or, honestly. His biggest weakness was his arrogance, however. It's good to have faith in yourself, but to think you're better than everyone isn't good. It's ultimately what led him to his defeat. He also needs to care more about his teammates. I mean, he obviously cares about you and Rogue a lot, but I mean his other teammates. His teammates should be his friends. That's what a guild is supposed to be," you smiled down at the exceed.

Lector looked down at his paws with furrowed brows, taking in all the information.

"I think Sting will be okay. I think he'll grow from this."

If only he was okay...