AN: Might turn this into a full story with StiYu RoYu or both, if it's wanted, but as it stands right now it's just a oneshot. Please enjoy!
There was nothing more important in Yukino's life than her family. Despite living the majority of her existence without it, she had eventually found those who she considered her new family. After having it torn away by Zeref's followers whilst only young, she had once given up all hope that she would ever love again – but that changed when she found her keys and joined Sabertooth.
After the Grand Magic Games, Sabertooth had turned a new leaf, and now Yukino had not only her spirits, but also Sting and Rogue, amongst all the other members of the guild. Now Yukino had the family she had craved for so long – but she knew she was still missing something, deep in her heart. She was missing an older sister. She was missing Sorano.
Yukino had vowed to find her, and so accepted the help of the two strongest members of the guild in this search. But knowing that this was an extremely dangerous mission, she had refused the help of the two exceeds who wished to remain by the side of their partners. There was no telling what her crazy sister would do to a couple of cats.
That's why she stood at the entrance of the cave with only the two dragon slayers, at a location where they had believed her older sister to be. Yukino pulled out the photograph recently taken of her, which clearly outlined the mage at the entrance of this cave. It was more than just a rumour.
"Sorano?" The celestial spirit mage called out, hesitantly taking a step into the cave. Was she finally going to see her sister again? Yukino was worried about the state she would find her in; she had heard things, nasty things about the dark mage. She had apparently become sick and twisted, joining a dark guild and attempting to turn all good in this world to evil. Yukino had to be cautious.
She took another few steps into the cave. "Sorano? It's Yukino!"
Suddenly the sound of sinister, soft giggling echoed through the cave, bouncing smoothly off the walls and into Yukino's ears. Yukino couldn't believe it. Was that twisted laugh… Sorano?
"My name is Angel." Announced the white-haired mage, suddenly appearing from the darkness of the cave. She wore a short feathery dress, with two large wings protruding from the back, much like the one she had been wearing in the photograph. As Yukino looked into the angel's eyes, any doubts Yukino had disappeared. This was Sorano.
Yukino wanted desperately to run up and bombard her long lost sister with hugs and kisses, yet she restrained herself, knowing that this was not the same girl she had grown up with. She had to be extremely cautious with this monster that wore her sister's skin. Yukino just hoped her sister was still inside somewhere.
"Angel." Yukino said, hoping using the name she requested would do some good. "Do you remember me?" Both Sting and Rogue took a few steps forward, stopping in front of Yukino as if to protect her from any attacks her sister may make.
Sorano laughed again. "Oh, Yukino, how could I forget my weak, helpless sister? I see you still need to be protected."
Yukino said nothing in reply. She wouldn't give Sorano the satisfaction.
"Which one of these fine men are you dating?" Her sister giggled softly, tilting her head slightly.
Yukino was sure she might have blushed under different circumstances, but now certainly wasn't the time for her romantic feelings to surface. They weren't important as of now. "Neither of them are my dates." She replied. "They are my family."
"Oh? Come on, Yuki, you can tell me."
"I'm serious!" She shot back. "I am dating neither of these men."
"Oh…" Sorano pouted. "That's no fun." Suddenly her eyes lit up, her lips moving to form a deranged smile. "You say they're family to you?"
"Yes." Yukino replied, maintaining her confidence. That's not to say that the expression on the lunatic's face didn't terrify her. "And you're my family too, Sorano. Please be my sister again."
Sorano just continued to laugh. "Oh, Yukino. If you love them both, then that only means I can hurt you twice as much." Her eyes slowly moved up, seeming to focus on a spot behind Yukino. The celestial spirit mage quickly spun, seeing two large stone-white razor-sharp beasts, shooting towards her friends with such great speed.
"Sting! Rogue!" She yelled as the two blades sliced through the torso of each of her friends, splitting each of their bodies into two. Blood spewed out of the severed halves as they collapsed onto the floor, the blood streaming to form a crimson puddle underneath them.
Yukino let out a deafening scream as she collapsed to her knees. "No! Sting! Rogue!" She turned to her sister, an infinite pool of tears streaming out of her eyes. "You're no sister of mine!"
"I wouldn't dream of it." Sorano yawned as she slowly walked past Yukino. Her summons followed her. Yukino just lay there, crying whilst her heart broke at the loss of her comrades. This had been her fault, entirely. If she hadn't been so hung up on her sister… Her two best friends wouldn't have been killed by her.
"I'm sorry…" She cried, the tears only increasing in frequency. "Sting… Rogue… I'm… I'm so sorry!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She could never forgive Sorano - or herself – for this. Perhaps she could forgive her for joining a dark guild, perhaps for attempting to destroy the world – but this, this was too far! As soon as Sorano laid a finger on her comrades, she had crossed a very fine line.
She stepped out of the cave, her vision still blurred from all the tears that continued to flow down her cheeks. "Angel!" She screamed, her voice loud and shrill. "Get back here!"
"What are you doing, Yukino?" Angel whispered into her ear from behind. Yukino spun around, grabbing Libra's key and proceeding to summon her. She appeared in a flash, evidently ready to fight as her golden scales glimmered in the sunlight.
"Aren't you going to save your friends?" Sorano questioned, curling her fingers at her lips. "Oh, Yuki… You are quite the selfish one."
"You killed them." Yukino roared through gritted teeth.
"You're a celestial spirit mage, and you don't even know?" Angel laughed. "You don't know? You really don't know, do you?"
"Shut up, Angel." Yukino growled, preparing to tell Libra to attack. Sister or not, what Sorano had done was unforgivable, and Yukino would kill her for it.
"I'll give you a hint, Yuki. Ask your friend there about artificial celestial spirits."
Yukino didn't want to believe a word of Angel's, but now that she was bringing Libra into it, perhaps there was some truth behind what she had said. Yukino turned to her celestial spirit, awaiting an explanation. "Libra. Tell me about artificial celestial spirits."
"There is a contract that exists in the celestial world, which can transform a mage into an artificial celestial spirit." She replied calmly, her eyes not leaving the body of Sorano.
"I hope you're not too dense to realise you can save your friends." Angel butted in.
Yukino looked to Libra. "But Sting and Rogue…"
"Are dead. Their spirits are still here and the contract can still be made."
"I'll take my leave here." Sorano giggled, as she turned around and fled the scene. Maybe fled wasn't the right word – she walked away, very slowly. Yukino took a few steps after her, unsure of the whole situation, before coming to her senses, slowing to a stop, and turning back to Libra.
"Libra, get me the contract."
Libra disappeared without saying a word, as Yukino rushed back into the cave and knelt down besides the two dead dragon slayers. She held both of their hands tightly, feeling the warmth they held slowly leave as their bodies grew cold.
"Stay with me… Sting-sama, Rogue-sama…" The tears had stopped, but the sadness inside her was only growing stronger. She had to hold on, for Sting and Rogue.
Libra reappeared with a large paper scroll. Yukino quickly took it from her hands, unrolling it and looking at the large expanse of text in front of her. She didn't have time to read all of this!
"What do I do?" She quickly asked the spirit.
"Sign for each of them, with their own bloodied handprint." Libra answered, pointing towards the blank space at the bottom of a paper.
Yukino hastily grabbed Sting's hand, before dabbing his palm and fingers into the pool of his blood. She placed it firmly onto the sheet, before pulling it back off and leaving a handprint of his blood. She did the same with Rogue, signing with his own bloody handprint.
She quickly turned to Libra. "What now?" Libra took the scroll off her, rolling it up and disappearing without a word. Stay calm, Yukino told herself. Libra was her friend; she was doing all that she could for Sting and Rogue. Seconds later, Sting and Rogue, much like celestial spirits when their gates were closed, glittered as gold as Libra's scales and began fading away.
The entirety of her heart just wanted to scream, to tell them to stop, to grab onto them and make them stay. But she knew that this was only part of the process, and that they would not be harmed. They would remain alive… in a sense. They would be okay.
After they disappeared, Libra reappeared holding a key. It was black and white in colour, spiralling like a twizzler. The base of the key was made up of two dragonheads – one black, one white. The dragons' necks went down into the shaft of the key, and continued to spiral down until both tails ended at the tip. It was the twin dragons' key.
Libra gave Yukino the key, before disappearing on her own. Yukino thanked her regardless, knowing that Libra would still feel her gratitude in her heart. Then she stood there, frozen with the key, her doubts and thoughts racing wildly. Would it be just like all of her other summons? What if Sting and Rogue hated Yukino now? What if she summoned them and they were just corpses? The questions continued flooding Yukino's mind, until she finally stepped outside for some fresh air.
She was just nervous, that was all. Yukino took a deep breath as she stood on the rocky ground, her legs and entire body shaking. Her voice shook too, as she exclaimed: "Gate of the twin dragons, I open thee! Sting and Rogue!"
Her two comrades materialised before her, completely unharmed, with expressions of shock and confusion on their faces. "Yukino!" Sting exclaimed. "What happened?"
"You…" Did she know how to say it? Did she know how to tell them they'd died? Did they know?
"I remember this horrible pain in my stomach…" Rogue stated quietly, moving his hands to feel the location he had been cut. "Then we were briefly in the celestial spirit world." He looked to Yukino with such calmness in his eyes. "What happened, Yukino?"
They didn't know. Yukino's voice trembled as she attempted to tell them. She spoke, yet the words didn't come out. "You…" She muttered, before whispering the second word silently in her head. She tried again. "You…" and again, she failed.
Yukino began to seriously doubt if she could ever tell them, before finally exploding. "You died!" She wailed, the tears that had stopped now pouring down her face once more. "You died, and I signed a contract so you could live!"
Rogue remained silent. Sting, on the other hand, did not.
"What? We're not dead!" Sting shouted. "We're right here!"
"You're celestial spirits!" Yukino screamed, covering her ears. "You were dead, it was the only thing I could do to save you! And now, and now…" She collapsed to her knees, her hands falling slowly to her side as she reached for her key. She held it up in the air for her comrades to see.
"You turned us into celestial spirits." Rogue finally acknowledged after a few seconds had passed.
"But…" Sting muttered. Yukino looked up to the two dragon slayers, who now each held an open palm forward to Yukino, offering to pull her up. Yukino didn't deserve it, but after persisting, the celestial spirit mage finally took each hand, allowing herself to be pulled up off the floor by her two best friends.
"I'd rather be a celestial spirit than be dead." Sting told her, pulling Yukino into a hug. Yukino allowed her arms to wrap around the warm body, remaining there for a few minutes until he eventually released her.
Yukino turned to Rogue. Was he thinking the same thing, or would he rather have died? She slowly approached him, wondering if it was okay to hug him. Rogue opened his arms as Yukino neared. Yukino slowed down. Was he just doing it because it was what Sting had done? Was he only- Yukino felt her questions vanish as Rogue took action, pulling Yukino into his chest.
"It's okay, Yukino." He comforted. "We'll be your celestial spirits."
"I…" Yukino cried. "I need to make a contract with you both." She cried into his shoulder. "Which… Which days are you free? Sting-san… Rogue-sama…"
"Yukino." Sting said from behind her. She slowly turned to face the white dragon slayer. "We're free everyday. We'll always be here."
"Sting… Rogue… Stay with me."
"We will, Yukino. We always will." Yukino hugged Rogue tighter, as her tears finally began slowing down.
"I've ruined your lives." She sobbed. "I never should have brought you out on this mission."
"Hey, it's not like you forced us!" Sting exclaimed. "We chose to come on this mission!"
"It's… my fault." Yukino repeated, still clinging onto Rogue. "I… I wish I died instead of you!"
"Yukino, you're forgetting what's important." Rogue said, causing Yukino to look up at his face in question. "What's the most important thing in the world?" He asked.
"Family." Yukino replied, as she wiped her eyes looking at his somehow calm face.
"That's right." Rogue said. "Sting and I are no longer the same, but that is irrelevant. We are still your comrades, Yukino. We are still your family. We will always be your family."
Family. Through the pain she felt, she remembered these two celestial spirits were both her family. As long as she had Sting and Rogue, she could live on; there was nothing more important in Yukino's life than her family.