The Bet

The Winner?

An Hour Later:

"You see her anywhere Happy?" yelled Natsu up to his friend.

"No, sorry!"

Gajeel had Lily doing the same thing. Hey, Mira didn't say they couldn't team up, right?

"I can't smell her anywhere!" Natsu grumbled.

"Well, duh! Mira had that spray put on them, remember?" Happy reminded him.

"Where would Levy go to hide?" Lily asked Gajeel. "Have you checked the library? Book store?"

Gajeel grumbled and Lily took that as a yes.

Lily and Happy met mid flight over the canal.

"No luck?" asked Happy to Lily.

Lily shook his head. "No. Gajeel's getting pretty frustrated. I didn't know she could hide this well. I mean, she's small but still...."

Happy sighed. "Natsu's about to lose it. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid!"

At both dragon mages shouts, they flew back to their respective friend and kept searching.

Two Hours Later:

Gajeel and Natsu both slammed into the Guild Hall.

"Mira! You gotta help us!" Happy pleaded, flying over to her.

Lily joined him. "I don't know how much more they can take," he said, glancing over at the mages who were starting to tear the hall up. "Unless you enjoy the town being torn apart."

"Oh dear!" Mira giggled, watching the two dragon slayers.

Lisanna and Erza exchanged a glance. "They both look pretty upset," Lisanna said. "How are we going to tell which one wins?"

Mira bit her lip. "Maybe we should call it off."

Erza nodded. "I'm inclined to agree. Master won't like it if the Guild Hall is trashed again. Natsu I can intimidate but I don't quite have that pull with Gajeel."

Mira beckoned Mest over and whispered in his ear. He disappeared and a few minutes later, Levy and Lucy walked into the Hall to see Natsu and Gajeel flipping over tables and chairs.

They both stood there, arms on their hips, shaking their heads.

"Gajeel!"

"Natsu!"

The dragon slayers paused, then rushed over to their mates, grabbing them and holding them close.

"Geeze, Natsu, you couldn't even find me? I've been waiting for hours!" teased Lucy.

"Yeah, Gajeel. I mean, you always tell me you can always find me with my nose in a book!" Levy teased as well.

Mira approached the group. "Ladies, I'm inclined to think it's a tie," she said, nodding her head.

"What's a tie?' Gajeel asked, holding Levy in his arms.

"Er, just the hide and seek game. Whoever could hide the longest without being found wins!" Mira explained with a smile.

"What's the prize?" asked Natsu, his arm around Lucy's waist. He wasn't letting go anytime soon.

"You got me back, silly," Lucy teased, seeing Mira's blank expression.

Both slayers decided it was high time to take their respective mates home and left without too much fanfare.

"Whew!" Mira sighed, watching them leave. She turned to Erza and Lisanna. "I have to give those girls credit - being a mate to a dragon slayer is one hell of a job! Glad I'm not in that predicament!"

"What predicament?" asked Laxus, sidling up to the bar, his eyes on Mira.

THE END