AN: Hey, everybody! I started another story, based around one of my new favorite ships. Hope you guys like it! I have high hopes. If you haven't go check out my OC-tastic first story, Bonds & Scars, on my profile. It's super rad, you won't be disappointed. Thanks for reading!

Notice: I own nothing, for I am not Hiro Mashima. Amen.

Chapter 1: A Fateful Encounter

It was a warm, pleasant summer day in the town of Epireus. The sun's rays filtering through the light cloud cover almost had a tangible form, they were so lazy and carefree. A gentle breeze ruffled through the grass surrounding the quiet hill town, and little tufts of dandelion fluff fluttered in the wind. In essence, it was the perfect day.

Rogue hated perfect days.

Especially when they were perfect for everyone but him.

Sure, the day had started off great. Sting had managed to find a hole in his all-too-busy schedule to do a mission together, which Rogue had sorely missed. He had missed being part of the strongest tag duo in Fiore. He had missed all of Lector's confident wisecracks to counteract Frosch's nonsensical mumblings. He had missed having Sting around to help him deal with the public attention, to help soak up all the praise and share the potential failure. He used to be Rogue, one half of the legendary Twin Dragons. Now he was Rogue, that guy who used to be Master Sting's second before Sting moved on to bigger and better things.

It was a relatively easy mission, and he and Sting had finished it up quickly and painlessly. He had headed to this nice little town with Sting to grab some dinner and catch up with his lifetime partner, but the press had caught wind of the fact that the Master of one of the most famous and powerful guilds in Fiore would be visiting the little town of Epireus, and soon Sting was mobbed by a crowd of cheering fans. Little boys grinned up at him and asked for autographs. Hordes of teenage girls draped themselves all over Sting like coats on a rack. All Rogue could do was stand by and watch awkwardly. Even Lector got more attention than he did. Rogue didn't want to admit it, but watching women throw themselves at Sting, he couldn't help but feel… jealous? It was strange, because the situation hadn't been any different than how it was before the Grand Magic Games: Sting and Rogue would do a mission, Sting would get all the glory, and Rogue would watch from the shadows. And he had preferred it that way. But now it was different. Before it was like Sting was shielding Rogue from the spotlight he didn't want, but now that spotlight didn't even want to shine on him. All it wanted was the man, the Master, the flashy White Dragon Sting.

Lector, and not Sting, had been the one to break the news to Rogue. "Sting just agreed to do some photo shoots, interviews, and a banquet. Would you like to come?"

Rogue had not even had to think before he answered. "No, thanks. I need to… practice."

"Fro thinks so, too!"

And so Lector had left, and so had Sting. And here was Rogue now, sitting on the hillside, contemplating himself, remembering how it used to be. Those were the good old days, when he and Sting had been inseparable. That was before they'd been publicly humiliated by Natsu and Gajeel, before he'd learned that he killed Sting in a future timeline. It had been hard for him to think of Sting the same way again since then. He didn't even know what to think of Sting anymore.

"What do you think, Frosh?"

There was no answer. Rogue turned side to side frantically. Frosh was nowhere to be seen. Oh, great. He must have wandered off while I was lost in thought.

Rogue hurriedly set off and started looking for his best friend. Rogue couldn't understand how Frosch had gotten so far in such a short period of time, because he was nowhere to be seen in the immediate vicinity. "Frosch!" he yelled. "Where are you?"

Wandering aimlessly through an alleyway on the other side of town, Frosch wasn't able to hear Rogue's cry. Loud sounds came from the neighboring buildings. He wasn't sure what he was doing or where he was going, or why the heck Rogue wasn't here, but he knew he had to get back to Rogue. He vaguely remembered Lector lecturing him about what to do if he got lost again, like that time when he went all the way to the Fairy Tail guildhall. So Frosch went up to the nearest stranger and asked if they'd seen Rogue.

The stranger bent down to look at Frosch. "Have I seen 'Rogue?' You mean the shadow dragon slayer from Sabertooth?"

"Yes," Frosch agreed. "Fro thinks so. He wandered off somewhere, leaving Fro all alone… Fro is very scared…" the Exceed's eyes started to tear up.

"Oh, please don't be sad. I'm sure Rogue will be just fine, and I'll look after you until you find him." The stranger stroked the top of Frosch's cat suit.

Frosch looked up gratefully. "You really think so?"

"I do."

Frosch smiled. "Fro thinks so, too!"

The stranger gave a wry smile back. "You know, Rogue is very lucky to have you. I've always wanted a little sibling to take care of."

"Frosch!"

Frosch turned around and there was Rogue, running towards his best friend. "Rogue!"

Rogue knelt down and embraced his reunited Exceed friend, but soon both remembered the stranger standing there awkwardly. "Oh! Sorry…" Rogue said. "Thanks for keeping Frosch safe. Hey, you're-"

"Don't mention it," she said.

The two stood there awkwardly staring at each other. Rogue met her eyes, then automatically glanced away at the next thing he looked at, which was, embarrassingly, her breasts. His eyes were caught for a few moments, mesmerized, before he tore them away in embarrassment. His eyes darted all over her body, not sure where to look: her bust, her hips, her smooth legs in tights, they were all inappropriate to stare at, but he couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze again, nor could he tear his eyes away from her completely. He could feel his face turning bright red.

Little did he know that the girl was too busy averting her eyes from his own in a similar manner, tracing her gaze along his chiseled muscles, since he'd left his cloak back at the hill and was wearing only a tank top. Only one man's voice cold break the inadvertent staring contest.

"Yo! Rogue! What are you doing out here?"

Rogue and the girl both snapped out of their trance. "I must be going," the girl said flustered, and before Rogue could protest, she was off down the road. That was weird. Rogue knew her from the Grand Magic Games, and he knew it wasn't like her to be so flustered like that.

"Hey, man! Earth to Rogue! You in there, buddy?"

"Wha- Oh, hi, Sting."

"Say, why were you talking to Kagura?" Sting winked at him.

Rogue blushed. "Oh, what? Nothing! Nothing! She just found Frosch when he was lost, that's all."

Sting raised an eyebrow. "Ah, come on, man! Don't give me that! I'm not judging you! She's pretty, man."

"Fro thinks so, too!"

Rogue stuttered, but was unable to form a comprehensible retort.

"Sting!" an entourage of women wailed from the banquet hall next door where Sting had come from. "Come back to us!"

"Coming, ladies!" Sting called back. "Hey, man. Come on. Go after her. Don't you think it's time you finally got a girlfriend for once?" Sting snickered.

Rogue couldn't explain it, but something in Sting's voice made him mad. He wanted to prove his worth, prove he was just as good as his former partner, prove he could be a ladykiller just like Sting.

"Fine! I'll 'go after her,' goddammit."

Sting grinned as he started walking back towards his entourage. "Glad to hear it, bro.

Little did Rogue know the magnitude of what he had just set in motion.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to rate and review! It really helps me out, and when you do, it's like highlighting a whole new account of stuff for me to read and rate and review and stuff. Anyways, as always, have a fantabulous day.