Grace was on a boat just off the port of Hargeon. Her job was to help some fisherman catch fish and deal with a predator problem they had been having for the past week.

She was in her white Tigress water mode, "White Tiger's Whirlpool Vacuum!"

A huge whirlpool began to form beside the ship. It went down about twenty feet, sucking in anything that was in the water, besides the ship. Once it was filled with fish she raised it above the water. The fishermen casted there nets under it and Grace let the cyclone disappear. The fish fell directly into the nets and the fishermen brought them aboard. The captain stated in a raspy voice, signaling that he had smoked for thirty years of his life, "Thank you for the help young lady. I honestly didn't think you'd be able to do much when I saw you, but you've proven me wrong."

The tiger smiled, bearing her teeth to the man, "No problem."

Suddenly the ship started rocking back and forth violently. The water began to splash around the ship, waves crashing into it. Grace commanded, "Everyone get below deck! I'm going to check out what's going on! It's not a storm, there's no storm clouds, so it must be a sea creature!"

They all listened immediately and ran to the captain's quarters. Grace jumped overboard on the ship, still in her water mode. This gave her the ability to breathe underwater. She looked around and didn't see anything, until she looked below and saw a giant black figure charging at her from underneath her. As it came closer she saw it was a giant squid. She heard it's muffled roar as it shot its tentacles towards her. She easily dodged all of them.

It shot an ink cloud out of its body, blinding her until she chanted, "White Tiger's Whirlpool Roar!"

The roar immediately ripped through the inky blackness. She looked around quickly, when she looked behind her a huge tentacle collided with her body and she was sent flying out of the water. She righted herself in mid air and controlled the water so it would catch her. She stood on the wave she was controlling, waiting for the squid to surface.

It did with a splash and a roar of anger. Luckily the ship was to her back so she didn't have to worry about holding back, "WHITE TIGER'S...RAGING TSUNAMI!!"

A huge wave started forming in front of her, raising a hundred feet in the air. She gave a mighty roar, sending the wave for the squid. It sweat dropped comically and screamed with all its tentacles above its head as the tsunami hit it, sending it flying through the sky until it disappeared out of sight.

Grace rode the wave she was on back to the boat and jumped off onto the deck. She glowed gold and shifted back to normal. She yelled loud enough for the people to hear her, "You guys can come out now!!"

They slowly emerged from the captain's quarters and looked around. The sea was calm once again, the sun still shining. Grace stated with a smile, "Don't worry I sent that thing flying into next week!"

The captain smiled thankfully at the young girl, "I'm truly grateful for your help, Grace. Not only did you get us our largest catch in years, but you saved us and our way of living from that beast. Now let's get back to port and get you paid, hm?"

The red head smiled and nodded before saluting, "Yohoho, and a bottle of cool with me captain!"

Everyone laughed at the girl's enthusiasm as the captain ruffled her hair.

Small Time Skip

They were back on land and the captain was giving the girl her reward, "Again, thank you so much for you're help. If its alright with you, I'd like to ask if I can request you specifically if I ever have trouble like this again? Uh, what guild are you apart of again?"

Grace replied with a proud smile, "Fairy Tail."

The man nodded and waved to the girl as she left for the train station. She needed some well deserved rest, and she could hear her bed calling her name all the way in Magnolia. Who was she to make it wait for her arrival?

Another Time Skip

It was the next morning and Grace and Gajeel had just made it to the guild to find everyone gathered around the stage. They both looked at each other with confused expressions and walked to the front of the crowd.

Grace looked around and said to the iron dragon, "The tension in the guild is so thick you could cut it with a knife."

He grunted, "Tell me about it. Makes my head itch."

The red head sweat dropped, "That's a weird tic to have Gaj."

The green curtain to the stage suddenly rose and revealed, Master Makarov, Gildarts, Erza, and Mira. This just rose more questions for the shapeshifter as everyone started voicing their impatience and excitement. 

Master Makarov finally spoke, "I will now announce this year's mages for the S-class wizard trials!"

Grace's eyes widened, "S-class wizard? That's why everyone's so on edge and excited."

Everyone quieted down as the master continued, "The trial this year will be held at Tenrou island. Our guilds most sacred ground. And the home of the first guild master's resting place."

Grace was surprised about all this, she had no idea so much went into guilds. More than just getting jobs and earning money to make a living and make new friends and family. Her train of thought was interrupted by the master saying, "I've chosen eight participants; Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Locksar, Elfman, Cana Alberona, Freed Justine, Levy McGarden, and Mest Grider."

Grace smiled for all the contestants, she new all of them and how strong they were, except that Mest guy. She had no idea who he was. She got a weird vibe from him though. She just brushed it off as paranoia. Gajeel brought her from her musings, "So that's why everyone was goin crazy. They wanted to get the old man's approval to be one of the contestants."

Grace nodded at the studded male's explanation. Master Makarov spoke again, "Even though these eight wizards have been chosen, only one will emerge victorious. The trial will begin in one weeks time, so you'd better get to training."

Gajeel gave a dumbfounded look, "How come he picked Juvia and not me?! I bought he liked me more than her!"

Pantherlily reasoned, "You seem to have a shady reputation in the guild for some reason. I don't think they trust you that much."

The male raged, "They can all trust me just fine!"

Grace smirked, "Maybe you should talk to Erza about it."

Erza stated, hearing her name, with a sly smile, "You just aren't ready yet."

Grace clutched her stomach as she burst out laughing and pointed at the frustrated look on the iron dragon's face, "This is a load a' crap!"

After the master explained the rules and to pick a partner. Grace turned around to see Gajeel gone. She looked for him and saw him holding Levy in the air by the back of her dress. Grace stomped over saying, "Gajeel! Put her down, she doesn't want to be treated like some stuffed doll!"

Gajeel said with a straight face, "I'm just tellin her to pick me for the trial so I'll have a chance to beat up on the other idiots."

Grace shook her head, "Alright but I don't want you to put her in any dangerous situations that she doesn't want to be apart of unless she has to be! I don't want to find out you got her killed!!"

The red head glared with an extreme intensity that made her chest feel heavy. Gajeel felt a shiver rack his spine, he hadn't seen that glare in a while, so she was serious. He nodded, trying to look like he wasn't fazed by the glare. Grace continued a little more concerned this time, "I also want you to come back in one piece. We're best friends, but this is the one time I won't have your back so take care of yourself and don't die on me."

The iron dragon slayer was surprised at the statement, the red head never got sentimental with anyone. She never really showed that she had a real soft spot for anything other than cats. Yes she was protective of the people in the guild but not to the point of actually showing concern for their wellbeing. This made him blush a bit but nod, "I promise I'll come back alive."

The girl gave a stiff nod and turned for the doors, "Well, you two should leave for training. I'll see you off in Hargeon."

The girl walked out of the guild, heading for her and Gajeel's home.