Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all its characters are owned by Hiro Mashima.
It was only the start of summer, and yet the heat was already escalating rapidly for comfort. A young woman stood waiting on one of the platforms in the train station, tapping her foot in time with the beat of the music she's listening to. Once in a while she would hum about softly a melody, unconsciously swaying her body with it.
She was lost in her own world that she didn't notice a pair of eyes studying her movements. If the girl ever knew about it, she would've been scared, and luckily though for the young man, she didn't seem to mind her surroundings as of the moment. He probably wouldn't have noticed her if she hadn't been humming, after all for him she's just another girl with blond hair and pale skin. He'd seen many like her before so it's nothing new for him.
Except though, she hummed that song that wasn't supposed to be known just by anybody. Because that song, was something he heard only in his dreams. And he knows that he wasn't dreaming in any way.
Yes, he was sure that the song is quite unknown, he had searched for it rather doggedly before, and although psychological studies seemed to refute his conviction, he chose to believe that it was purely from his dreams. After all, he'd read somewhere that the human subconscious is usually right. He'll have to look for that article again, he thought.
He watched her go from humming to a soft singing, with the words matching every lyrics he had in his memory. Should he approach her? He doesn't know how but he knows that he must. He has this gut feeling that there is a big possibility that he might not see her again after this.
Casting away all his anxieties, he took a step forward and bet everything on his nonexistent luck.
"Excuse me, miss." He muttered while he tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
The girl pulled out one of the ear pods as she turned to face him with an expectant look. For a second she thought she was seeing things; the boy looked like someone she knew from a distant past, a past that she wasn't sure if it was real or something she just made up in a fantasy.
"Yes? Is there anything you need?" She asked him while she watched him struggle with his words and try to avoid her gaze. She wouldn't deny though that she felt a blush creep up to her cheeks when their eyes met.
There is that troubled look in his face that sets her on edge. She doesn't like people showing that expression, well anyone wouldn't like seeing that.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but," He started.
"But?" The girl asked expectantly.
"What was the song you were humming just a while ago?" He asked her sheepishly.
She let out a long sigh before she flashed a smile at him. He had put her there on her toes, her mind raring to know if she had done something wrong, and then this man just asked her something so mundane and general that she would've tackled him for the suspense he put her through.
But still, the thought never crossed her mind that today, someone would ask her about that song.
"That? Well, it's embarrassing but it's something I wrote a few years back. A personal favorite if you ask me, and I don't mean to sound self-bias." She replied excitedly.
"That's weird. I kind of know the whole song. Have you posted it yet on the net or maybe played it somewhere?" He asked her, curiosity and hope mixing together; hoping for what he doesn't know.
Looking at him with a disbelieving expression she answered him, "No, I'm pretty sure that it was only me who knows about it. Neither have I posted it anywhere nor sang it to somebody else. Maybe it just sounded like another song you know? That happens a lot of times." She suggested. Somehow, her confidence just slipped off and now she's too wary of the young man who approached her out of the blue.
"I mean, some songs have a few notes and melodies similar here and there. I bet that's the case." She continued.
"Maybe you're right. I'm just confusing it with another song I know," He muttered.
"Y-yeah that must be it." She agreed with a shaky smile.
"But you haven't sung the last lines yet." He whispered almost inaudibly to everyone but himself.
"What? I'm sorry I didn't catch what you said." She inquired, not quite hearing the words he'd spoken.
"Tell me, miss, does it ends with the lines, 'someday, when the time's right, I'll get to meet you'? If it doesn't, I'm sorry for bothering you with my nonsense." He said in a voice resounding with mixed feelings. He wanted her to say yes and at the same time he wanted her to say no. But if she said yes, he doesn't know how he would explain to her why he knew that song.
They have permitted silence to descend over them. A pregnant silence that's eating over their confidence. Different thoughts ran through their heads. One contemplated to pass it off as a stupid joke, the other considered to tell the other the truth. Yet, neither of them dared to break the silence that drugged them like a sedative. They stared into each other's eyes, as if searching for something that will lighten the heavy atmosphere. They searched until they paved their way too far already to turn back, only for them to be yanked back harshly by their own realities.
Noises indicating that the train was near was heard throughout the station, people started to buzz about, grabbing bags and hands. And though the young girl had her bag slung around her torso, she couldn't help but envy those people that have hands that they can hold on to. She wished she also had that.
"I'm sorry but I'd be taking my leave now." She passed on to him without giving a second glance, trained her eyes on the path before her. She caught him mutter a nonchalant "Okay," before she felt him turn around and walk away.
Somehow, the thought of him walking away from her made her feel funny.
She heard the doors slide open, beckoning the passengers to board the train. She started to take a step and put one foot inside the train. Her resolve was made already, so there should be no hesitance in her part. Should not be.
Then why did she suddenly stop midway? All she had to do was take another step inside the train and then she'll be off somewhere she had always wanted to go. Her mind raced as to what she should do.
'Why haven't I answered him then?' she berated herself. It's true that he was someone she barely know, and even if he seemed harmless enough, she doesn't want to bet on his looks alone. She wanted to turn around, run, and try to catch up to him and explain herself. And yet, she's not moving an inch. So to speak, she was caught up between two places; figuratively and literally.
"If you're not going to board the train miss, would you kindly step outside? We're being held up behind its schedule." She looked up to see the conductor give her an exasperated expression.
She was embarrassed when she saw the aggravated looks the other passengers were giving her. Pulling her other leg out, she apologized to the conductor before she sprinted away from the place, looking for a young man with blond hair and blue irises. Her head whipped left and right, searching for a fair-headed man. Twice she mistook other people for him. Exhausted, she stopped to catch her breath.
Then, she spotted him outside towards the direction of the town park, already a good distance away from her. Picking up her pace once again she sprinted towards him. She doesn't know what to say, but she just kept on running anyway. She watched him stop and sit on a bench, taking out a small book that he began to read. The girl slowed down her pace and walked up to him with small even steps. She doesn't know what to expect then, so when he looked at her direction as if she was just another stranger that walks by in a park, she was rendered speechless. Her train of thought was derailed somewhere in the lobes of her brain.
Was she disappointed? Perhaps, but she argued with herself that she's just being irrational.
"I thought you left already." He said to her in a tone that made him sound indifferent.
She walked closer and sat next to him. "I decided that I'll just go next time, tomorrow maybe, I don't know. I…to be honest with you, I suddenly got confused." She was surprised at what she had just said. Confessing to him was not in her to-do list for the day.
"Was it because of my question earlier, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I know that it must've been creepy on your part. Besides I understand if you'd rather keep silent about it." He said in a manner as if the topic wasn't a big deal just moments earlier.
His voice sounded apologetic so she stole a glance to have a look at his face, although the expression she saw in him seemed to say the opposite she knows that he's being sincere.
To her, he looked tired. As if was he already weary of waiting for something he doesn't know will come.
So, she considered giving him the answer he's asking from her. A small consolation that she can give. Besides, she can feel that he really wants to hear her response despite telling her otherwise.
Speaking up, she said, "It's alright, I don't mind it anyway. And it you'd like to know, my answer's yes. What's strange is that I remember my parents telling me that I always sing that in my sleep." Chuckling to herself, she reminisced old memories from before. She looked at his eyes, holding his gaze with her own.
"Is that so? I'm glad that's the case. It was rather…strange, but strange in a good way." He commented. He didn't know how badly he wanted her to say yes, like he was waiting for her response on his marriage proposal. He imagined the scene in his head, going down on his one knee, saying her name followed then by the magic words.
The scene doesn't seem ugly for him.
Then before he knew it, something in his mind sparked. In a rather uncharacteristic manner, he turned his body towards her excitedly. No, he's not going to confess to her then and there. It was something else entirely.
He was about to speak when the blonde girl suddenly beat him to it, and was glad that they were actually about to say the same thing.
"I almost forgot, we haven't introduced ourselves to each other yet, my name's Lucy Heartfilia. It was a pleasure meeting you." She blurted out, taking aback the young man beside her.
"I-I'm Sting, Sting Eucliffe. It's also my pleasure meeting you, Lucy." He felt weird speaking out her name for the first time.
"So tell me, um, Sting, where did you learn that song?" She asked him bemused, she propped her arm on the backrest before putting her cheek atop it.
He looked rather uncomfortable, he know in his self that he shouldn't be sputtering nonsense about him hearing itin his dreams. He really mustn't.
But he still did. Big time.
He thought she'll start running away from him, shouting that he's a weirdo for everyone to hear.
Then she started to laugh kindheartedly, her head bobbing up and down with her giggles.
Sting let out a long, weary sigh.
"It wasn't supposed to be a joke, so stop snorting like a horse." He said to annoy her.
Lucy let her giggles die down that settled to a grin.
"Alright, I'll stop laughing," She kept her smile on her face, a faint red starting to glow on her cheeks.
Continuing, she said, "Sting, even though it's creepy in every possibility, I'm glad that somebody else knew the song." And was unfathomably glad that it was you. Lucy thought.
"Whatever, it's ugly anyway." He retorted, his rough side starting to come out, an indication that his friends once told him when he's feeling flattered.
"And here I thought you were such a nice man, sir." He heard her say jokingly.
"Well, you thought wrong." He answered back, giving her a smile that she seemed to find charming.
Lucy smiled back, the peculiarity of their situation lifting her mood. She remembered that earlier while walking on the streets, a girl that seemed to be of her same age pulled her aside to tell her a drunken divination. Although it was told in slurs and burps, she believed what the drunk woman had said,
'You'll meet someone that came straight right out of your dreams. And though it wasn't exactly what you're looking for, it was something that you really need.'
Standing up to face him she returned his smile, "Are you busy tonight? I was thinking if we can go out for dinner, you know, chat a little bit more, get to know each other, maybe a date." She offered. Although the last part was spoken in hushed voice.
Sting gave her an incredulous look. Lucy just blushed at her own boldness.
Sighing, again, he then followed her suit and stood up, coming up roughly a head taller than her.
"You do know that we've just met each other earlier, right?" He asked, amused by the antics the girl was pulling.
Smiling knowingly she said, "Not exactly. I think we've met before, we just don't remember it yet."
"Maybe, who knows? For me it doesn't matter anyway, what counts is what we do now." Wistfully, he spoke more to himself than to her.
"Right. I agree with you." She breathed. The small distance between them was making her feel giddy and excited when she shouldn't be.
He started to walk towards the town center, beckoning the girl he had just met a while ago, "Let's go, I know a good place we can eat.
Lucy walked beside him, feeling happy for something she can't exactly name as of the moment. But she knows for sure, that someday, she'll get the answer to it, she just doesn't know when it would be.
And she is hoping that it'll be soon.
Author's Note: To be honest, I'm not exactly satisfied with how this went on. I guess, I lost the spark somewhere along the way as I struggled to meet all my responsibilities. I also don't know if I should keep it a one shot or write a succeeding chapter(s) for it. I'm not sure if anyone will like, and thought it may sound selfish, so be it, I hope that there are people who might actually like this story, even though some parts of it were written halfheartedly. So, reviews please? Tell me whether you'd like to see this continued in the review section. I'll be temporarily leaving at as in in-progress. Also, I actually have a particular plot in mind, so nothing to worry about.
In any case, thank you for reading this story and I hope you would support my other ones.