Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima. No copyright infringement intended.
Lucy expected this. No matter how great her faith in Fairy Tail is, she believed that there would always be a guild that would get in their way. Now, here it is - Sabertooth, a guild that she admits to consist of incredibly powerful mages who proved to slow them down into getting the title of the "Strongest Guild in Fiore". It's really frustrating! Sometimes she wished they could just get through this easily. She understands her guildmates' feelings and pride though, but they don't need to join these games to actually show people that they are the best. She couldn't believe it. Grand Magic Games? Ridiculous. She felt bad for the people who had the idea of putting up senseless battles disguised as a reputation contest. She felt bad for the guilds who had been victims.
She felt bad... for her comrades.
Stroking her mid-length blond hair, she looked at her teammate Natsu – the fierce Fire Dragon Slayer. There is that look on his face again. His eyebrows meeting, eyes turned into slits, with teeth and fists clenched. He is angry and it's bad. He just witnessed an intense battle among Minerva (the powerful woman from Sabertooth), Kagura (the strongest mage of the all-girls guild Mermaid Heel) and Erza (the mighty swordswoman of their guild Fairy Tail). It didn't look like a decent fight at all. It was like a heartless punishment of slaves in public. She felt sorry, not just for their teammate Erza who had been badly hurt, but for Natsu as well. Lucy felt him enraged. They have been in the same team for a long time now, and she has mastered his personality. She knows Natsu's desire for revenge.
They are watching from their guild station among the bleachers of the stadium. Concerned, she decided to approach him and softly uttered "...Natsu."
He didn't look up nor moved a single part of his body, he remained looking down at the arena as he watched the medical team laying Erza down on a stretcher to be brought to the infirmary. Even at a lengthy distance, he could see the large cuts and bruises on her body. Minerva, that sadistic war god mage, she did most of the damage. He's going to make her and her guild pay.
Seconds later, he spoke with anger in his tone. "Don't worry, Lucy. I'm going to show them how it is to cross Fairy Tail."
Lucy looked at him with a sad look. She turned her eyes to their two more teammates - Gray (the ice-make mage) and Elfman (the take-over mage). The former closed his eyes and shook his head, while the latter just sighed. She didn't bother to reply at all. She didn't need to. After all, this is Natsu. He's the type of a person who will put his words to action. There's nothing you could say or do to stop him, not this time when he's very angry. He just continued to watch, and this time he diverted his eyes to Minerva who is going up to her guild station. Natsu saw how her guildmates were so happy and proud of her for winning the so-called 'threesome battle'.
His arms started to shake. "Tch! Bastards!"
Gray couldn't take it anymore. He knows he needs to say something. He looked at Natsu and said in a loud voice, "Calm down, Natsu! Save it for the upcoming battles-"
Hearing this, Natsu finally found a reason to move. He turned to look at Gray and cut him off "Calm down? Me? Seriously, you're telling me to calm down? Erza has been bathed helplessly in her own blood AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO CALM THE F*CK DOWN?"
"Oi Natsu! This is not the time to fight-"
"Well, I'm not the one who started it-"
Lucy got in-between them and shouted with all her might, "STOP IT YOU TWO!"
She is used to this common sight of Gray and Natsu fighting. Though, somehow this time, she got annoyed. The two turned to look at her with shock on their faces. Tears started to pour down from her eyes. She can't bear to see her guildmates like this. It is not as if they could do anything to prevent Erza from reaching that state. Maybe, they just couldn't believe that one of the strongest mages from their guild had lost in a battle so bad. They felt despair coming to them and they wouldn't take it.
"Please... just stop. I know we all just feel the same thing for Erza. Her loss should make us work harder... for her sake... for our team... for Fairy Tail. Now, look at what it does to us when you make your minds preoccupied with revenge. It tears our team apart...
... Where is the Fairy Tail I once knew?"
No one spoke a word.
She continued. "See? Sabertooth took it... from us."
Maintaining the guild's reputation is important, but how long will their pride last?
From the guild station, Lucy went to the halls of the stadium. She decided to visit Erza at the infirmary and spend the time looking after her. Still feeling bad about what happened, she looked down to the concrete ground and slowly walked. She finally reached a door, knowing it was the room given to them by the heads of the infirmary. She turned the knob, hoping to see Erza lying on one of the beds.
Apparently, she noticed something had gone wrong in the room. She couldn't see the red-haired young woman she came for. All she could see was several unoccupied beds and an occupied one. A dark-haired male mage was lying on it... unconscious.
'Wait, what? Where is Erza? Who is that? Is that Gray? No, it can't be. He's with Natsu and Elfman at the guild station. Could it be...'
Finally, she had come to her senses.
She entered the wrong room.
'Oh, stupid me. I should have realized it sooner.'
She went to the door and touched the knob. As soon as she was about to rotate it, there was a familiar carving on the door that made her stop. It was the shape of a wild animal's head in side view with its mouth open and fangs sticking out. It could be the insignia of the guild who owns the room, no doubt.
She gasped and widened her eyes.
'Sabertooth!'
But why? Why couldn't she just open the door and run while she still had the chance? The guild members could come here any minute, but she still didn't. Instead, Lucy turned around and went to the sleeping mage to look at his condition. She looked at him, trying to remember where she had seen him before.
'Oh, he is one of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. Along with that golden-haired guy, he fought Natsu and Gajeel-san. What's his name again?'
She heard about how they were punished by their guild master after losing the battle. That time, while Fairy Tail was celebrating, Sabertooth was receiving a long insulting sermon. Now, seeing him in a comatose state, she felt sorry for him.
Her eyes examined him. His soft black hair is covering the left side of his face. The upper part of his body is naked, while the lower part is covered with a soft cotton white blanket. She saw a couple of old scars on his well-defined torso, but there were also a lot of fresh deep cuts that looked like they only stopped bleeding one and a half hours ago. He probably was in some kind of fight, or the guild gave him a beating he didn't deserve.
His sleeping form looked peaceful, as opposed to the deadly dragon slayer that he became when he fought in the arena. Lucy carefully touched his cheek, avoiding to wake him up.
With sad eyes, she softly spoke. "Poor you. I could never understand the guild you're in, but I could not even understand more your loyalty to it. Your guild doesn't care about comrades and bonds, which is the reason why Natsu loathes all of you so much. When he learned about what happened to Yukino, you don't know how much he wants to eliminate your guild master. To expel a member and made her erase the insignia with her own magic, it was too much to handle. He was furious. For him, your way of guild is utterly selfish."
There was a movement within the muscles on his face. She wondered what's happening. Is he waking up? Fear suddenly started to envelope her. She thought, 'Oh Kami-sama, why now? There's not a chance to conceal my presence. I knew it. I'm doomed. Please, someone help-'
Before she knew it, he was smiling... in his sleep.
She took the opportunity to remove her hand from his face, but was stopped by his own hand. Lucy remained in her position, never got the guts to pick up a key from her pouch, but she's still on her guard just in case. He finally woke up. Slowly, he opened his eyes. His deep red orbs met her brown ones. Lucy is getting afraid and he knows it. A sweet and soft laugh escaped his lips.
"Do not be afraid, Celestial mage. I'm not going to hurt you."
"How long has it been when you knew that I'm here?"
"Since you entered the room."
Of course, she shouldn't have underestimated a dragon slayer. Their senses are almost in the absolute threshold.
"Then you must have heard-"
"Don't worry about it." Breaking the eye and hand contact, he adjusted his body so that he is now sitting, revealing more scars and cuts on his back. "Fairy Tail, huh?" He gasped at the pain caused by body movement, but tried hard to tolerate it anyway.
Lucy started to show compassion. "Uhmm... are you alright? You know, you shouldn't move too much."
Once again, he looked at her eyes. "My name is Rogue. Rogue Cheney. Anyway, what is a rival guild member doing here? Did you come here to be my caretaker?"
Blood rushed to her face. No, she didn't, right? Or did she?
The young man raised an eyebrow. "Correct?"
Her face was all red now, like a tomato. "W-what? N-no! Of course not!"
He narrowed his eyes and spoke in a serious tone, "Your very presence is telling me otherwise."
No, she really didn't. It was an accident. Why on earth would she enter Sabertooth's room anyway? Lucy is now getting uncomfortable. With the embarrassment she had caused herself, it would probably best to leave now. While he's still calm and off-guard, she knows she could run and get the h*ll out of here. Before she could do it though, his words came to stop her.
As if reading her mind, he looked down to his hands laid on the white blanket and said, "Wait. Don't leave. I have something to say."
She didn't say a word. She waited for him to continue.
"By the way, dear Celestial mage, I still haven't heard you saying your name."
"Uhmm... I'm Lucy... Heartfilia."
He gave her a soft smile. "I know."
She blushed again. "What?! Why did you ask for it then?"
"I didn't ask for it. I just said that I never heard you say it."
Lucy let out a dumbfounded look on her face. 'What a weirdo!'
"And you know that I'm a celestial mage."
"I saw your fight with that woman from Raven Tail."
"..."
"Anyway, umm... Rogue-san? What was it that you wanted to tell me?"
Rogue inhaled all the oxygen he could. He never did this before. "Please bear with this, Lucy-san, I had never told my feelings to anyone before."
She blushed again for the nth time. 'No way! This Rogue has feelings for me? I'm afraid I have to reject him, but first I have to think of something to say so I won't hurt him. Think Lucy. Think.'
Rogue started his speech, "Lucy-san, you see... I... I...-"
She didn't want to interrupt, but she wasn't ready for this. "Wait, Rogue-san! I know what you're going to say."
Rogue widened his eyes and looked at her. "You... You know?"
She closed her eyes, bowed down, and clenched her fists. "Y-yes, but I... I'm so sorry, Rogue-san."
"Huh? For what?" He looked at her, wondering what is going on.
"I'm sorry, Rogue-san. I don't view us that way."
"What do you mean?"
She looked up to him sincerely. "I meant what I said. I can't return your feelings for me."
Rogue, still confused, "What? What are you talking about, Lucy-san?"
"Huh? I thought you were going to confess your feelings for me. I thought... you liked me."
Rogue sighed. She got it all wrong, but he dismissed it anyway seeing no sense to this conversation.
"Lucy-san, what am I about to tell you, is that I... also feel bad for the whole Sabertooth. It's true, we appear cold and heartless, but these are the impressions our master wants us to give. He believes that emotions and bonds are just for the weak. Lucy-san, he doesn't even care about the master-member relationship in the guild. He just views us as tools for his own success. About what happened to Yukino, it affected most of us. Sting might have not shown it, but I feel that he also cared for her. When she was ordered to strip her clothes by our master, I knew he was going to make her erase her guild insignia. I felt sorry for her, but I couldn't do anything. We all just moved on like nothing happened, but deep inside it bothered me. It was the worst thing that can happen to a guild – to ditch members like they're just pieces of trash. I see no reason to question Natsu-san's anger towards us. Unlike our guild master, Lucy-san, Natsu-san, all of you, you care about your comrades and establish a really good relationship with one another. That's what I like about you and your guild."
Lucy couldn't find the words to say. She is shocked and amazed. She couldn't believe this came from who she once thought to be evil. "Rogue-san..."
He put his hands on her shoulders. They stared at each other for a few seconds. The moment they made a physical contact, she felt like they were connected. The way he looked into her eyes, it's as if he wanted to tell her another thing, but couldn't seem to express it verbally. "Rogue-san..."
"Lucy-san, go. They'll be coming here soon."
She realized the time and gasped. "Oh no! I'm so sorry Rogue-san. I forgot-"
"No worries, but I need you to go as soon as possible, NOW. If they find you here, who knows what they would do to you? I couldn't bear to see another comrade getting hurt."
His words stunned her. "... Rogue-san..."
"GO."
Lucy felt an adrenaline rush come to her and made her way out of the room quickly. She ran like there's no tomorrow. She doesn't know where to go, though. All she knows is that she should get away from that room as far as possible. While she was running to nowhere, she suddenly thought of his words:
"...That's what I like about you and your guild."
"... I couldn't bear to see another comrade getting hurt."
His statements puzzled her. Did he just mean that he considers her already as a comrade? But why? Is it because she took the time to listen to him? Is it because she and Natsu cared for his ex-guildmate Yukino? She doesn't understand this at all. There was also that time when Rogue looked into her eyes just before he commanded her to leave. She knew he was trying to tell her something. She knew he was in deep pain, not just physically. He is suffering emotionally. She knew he was tired of it. He wanted to change his guild – that's one reason why he couldn't leave. Another reason is that he simply can't leave his comrades. Lucy smiled. He wants her to help him end this madness.
Meanwhile, back in Rogue's room, a guy his age with two cats, specifically Exceeds, came to visit him. They were surprised to see him sitting on the bed and doing well. Hours ago, it looked like he wasn't going to wake up for days.
A cat, dressed in a pink polka-dotted hoodie, went to his arms and snuggled on him. "Rogue, Frosch missed you! You should have seen the battles. Frosch watched them a while ago with Lector. Frosch enjoyed them a lot!"
Rogue smiled. "I'm glad you had fun, Frosch."
The guy with blond hair suspiciously sniffed around the room, "Hey Rogue, are you alright? Did something happen? Someone who is not a member of our guild was here. The scent was that of a girl's."
"Yes, Sting, I'm alright. You don't need to worry, no one was here."
The other cat, with the dark red fur wearing a blue vest, went to Sting's shoulder and said, "Ho-ho! Rogue has a girlfriend and he's hiding it from us!"
Sting didn't buy the idea. "Lector, this isn't the time for jokes!"
Rogue sighed in relief, and took a moment to think about Lucy. 'She understood what I was trying to tell her through my eyes, a comrade indeed. Thank you, Lucy-san.'
"Don't worry, Rogue-san! You came to the right- KYAA!" Bam! Lucy bumped onto someone and fell on the hard floor. She immediately stood up, pointed her right index finger to the person and shouted, "Hey, you! You should look where you're... Ehh? N-Natsu? Gray and Elfman?! What are you doing here?"
"HUHHHH? LUCY? Where have you been? We thought you had gone to Erza, but you weren't there. Good thing Poluschka-san looked after her, so we searched for you."
'Oh... right. How could I... forget?'
...
END
A/N: OMG, guys I'm really sorry it took so long before Lucy and Rogue meets in this story. I just wanted to show everyone how Lucy ends up in Rogue's room. I tried my best to make them in-character. Rogue has a gentle side of him anyway. So yeah, guys, this is for you all on Valentine's Day! I'm sorry for spelling and grammar mistakes. Also, I'm sorry to RoLu fans who expected this fic to be in a heavier romance genre. I decided to go for a light and cute fic as opposed to the fics I've written before. Should I make a sequel, or should I end it here?