Day 1: Thread

Lucy sat on a comfortable rock staring into her campfire, slowly poking and prodding the embers with a long stick, lost in her thoughts. Her mind sifted through so many memories that they slowly started melting together into abstract pictures that flitted through her mind. Contemplating past decisions, what-ifs, and what should-have-beens in her short life as a mage of Fairy Tail. All of which left her wondering how she ended up where she was; sitting in the middle of the forest, no guild, and no clear direction to go.

She stood up as if on autopilot and made her way into her tent and gathered up everything she needed to freshen up in the river. She followed along the well memorized path through the forest toward the small river where she bathed in the cool numbing waters. She paid no mind to her surroundings which part of her knew was unwise, but she just couldn't muster the will to care.

Setting her belongings on a rock by the river she began to unzip her boots when she glanced into the running water. What she found immediately brought her out of her internal wandering, there were streaks of pink swirling in the current.

Immediately, she placed her hand on her whip and keys and began to cautiously trek upstream to find the source of the tainted water. As she walked farther away from her bathing spot, the trail of pink was getting darker and more wide spread. Her eyes followed up the river where she spotted a slumped figure on the opposite side of the bank ahead of her.

After a quick assessment of her surroundings for any danger, she ran along the bank to the injured person. As she ran, she couldn't help but notice the large hill just behind figure and surmised that they fell somehow. As she got closer she realized the bloodied white coat seemed familiar to her. She was thankful to see that even though they were face down and mostly in the water, their head was resting on bank. Standing on her side of the river she gasped when she realized she knew who was barely breathing in front of her.

Lucy's brain came to life calling out Virgo as she waded into the river, the short gap between the banks. Her spirit popped up next to the slumped body and before the maiden could say anything, Lucy immediately began to issue orders, "Virgo, can you please get me the med supplies and let Leo and Taurus know that I will be needing a stretcher and their help to carry him back to camp." Virgo gave her a silent nod in conformation and quickly disappeared.

Lucy knelt by the man's head calling out to him as she brushed the bloodied maroon locks out of his face, "Cobra, Cobra can you hear me?" she saw his finger twitch a little at hearing her so she proceeded to talk to him.

"Cobra it's Lucy Heartfilia, I don't know if you remember me…" before she continued on she heard him grunt briefly.

"Then I will take that as a yes, I am going to help you OK?" as she began to look over his immediate injuries and she was dismayed to see that his upper body was leaning at a very unnatural angle, which was a sign of either a dislocation or break. She saw what was very obviously a break in his leg just below the knee and the amount of cuts, gashes and bruises on what she could see of his body indicated more than just a tumble down the hill. He was a dragon slayer after all and for him to be in this state, something very bad must have happened to him.

Virgo burst through her gate with a bag of medical supplies from the celestial world. Lucy asked Virgo to look for the healing potions as Lucy began to gently touch the poison slayer, "Cobra, I need to turn you on your back, OK." She paused to see if he would respond and when she received a small grunt, she proceeded.

Once Cobra was on his back she realized his shoulder was dislocated and immediately positioned herself to fix it as Virgo handed her the vial of healing potion. "Cobra, I have a healing potion for you to drink, I am going to lift your head a little so you can drink it, do you think you can do that?"

Hearing the affirmative grunt from the dazed and injured slayer Lucy lifted his head gently and brought vial to his lips. Wedging the vial so that he could separate his lips she drained the contents into his mouth. Lucy laid his head back down gently swiping the excess liquid that dribbled out of the corner of his mouth with her thumb.

"Now, here comes the bad news. Your shoulder is dislocated and I am going to set it, OK?" After hearing his grunt she positioned herself moving his arm away from his body and placing herself just right for the leverage needed, "OK Cobra, on the count of three. One… Two…" and before she said three she pulled the arm slowly until she felt the shift of the shoulder popping back into place. Cobra made a guttural sound of relief, promptly passing out.

Now in a more panicked state Lucy, noticed the gashes on his torso that were bleeding excessively. Virgo rummaged through the med kit and pulled out some bandages and pressed them to the wounds while Lucy called out Leo and Taurus. The two spirits placed the stretcher down next to the injured slayer. Leo knelt on one side of the slayer and Taurus knelt on the opposite side of the stretcher, with Lucy at the slayer's head and Virgo at his feet at the count of three they lifted Cobra gently onto the stretcher.

Leo looked at his master and asked the question on everyone's mind, "What is he doing here and how did he get like this. Maybe we should just leave him."

Lucy glared at him, "I would never do such a thing and you should know better than to even suggest it." The venom in her voice was palpable.

After a brief apology, they began their trip back to camp. Virgo asked for her punishment and was dismissed. Lucy followed her two remaining spirits with the med kit.

When they arrived back at camp Taurus was dismissed with Lucy's appreciation and Virgo came out of her own gate while Lucy summoned Aries to help them with the near lifeless form of the poison dragon slayer.

When Lucy had cut away blood soaked shirt and bandages she was shocked to find a few more gaping wounds that would need to be stitched. She also nearly lost what little contents were in her stomach when Leo cut away the pants to reveal a horribly broken shin bone protruding from his skin. While Virgo and Leo got to work cleaning and setting the broken limb, Aries helped Lucy as she took her time gently cleaning the wounds and assessed which ones needed her immediate attention. There were three in total on his abdomen that needed stitches and Lucy made quick and neat work with her supplies from the celestial realm. The gold glittering stitches were a stark contrast to the bruises that began to form on his chest and abdomen and the angry red cuts that littered his skin.

After what felt like forever the Poison Slayer was mended to the best of their collective ability and with another dose of healing potion they washed his hair of the blood inspecting it for any gashes that may have been missed. After Cobra was settled into her bed Lucy dismissed her spirits with her thanks.

As Lucy gazed at the Slayer in her bed, she realized that the man was barely holding on by a thread. She began to worry that he may not last the night between the blood loss and multitude of injuries. She grabbed the warm bowl and cloth Aries had left and began to clean what did not get finished. She wiped away the dirt and debris from his face and arms. She managed to get down to his hands, gently wiping each of his long calloused fingers with the warm water before she herself passed out.

Lucy awoke about 2 hours later slumped on the floor with a stiff neck. She immediately checked the Slayer and noticed that he was shivering violently. Calling out her timid spirit Aries she requested a blanket to cover him, one that would allow him to get the chill off his body but not add to the heat of his fever. As she covered him with the pink blanket she gently felt his head and realized he was running a very high fever than she initially thought. .

Lucy exited her tent with the bowl of dirty water that she had used to clean Cobra up and went over to her makeshift kitchen area. She refreshed the water in the bowl and grabbed a clean cloth. Concern laced her thoughts as she re-entered her tent. She may not have known the man laying in her bed very well but seeing him so broken and close to death pulled at something deep in her soul. She wasn't even sure what it was, but it made her want even more for the man to pull through despite her tragic past experiences with him.

She placed the cool cloth on his head to help reduce the fever and hoped that the magic potion wouldn't be burned off by his immune system, especially since he is a poison slayer. The more she thought about it, poison was his element and when a dragon slayer consumed or absorbed their element they received a boost in strength. Lucy knew what she needed to do, she called out Grampa Crux and requested a book on poisonous plants in the region but within five minutes she slumped over from exhaustion.

Lucy awoke to a small whimper, feeling stiff from the floor she made a mental note to setup a second bed for herself. She observed Cobra laying there with a sheen of sweat covering his body, the blanket having been moved off his body in the night he was restless and in pain. She took a moment to feel his damp forehead and was pleased to realize that his fever, while not broken, was down at least down. She felt him still under her touch and she slowly slid her hand down his cheek and neck to land on the pulse point in his neck, the feel of the slightly stronger beat gave Lucy hope.

A slight smile graced her lips as a look of peace came over his face briefly. She wondered if it was from her physical touch, but almost as soon as she thought it she chastised herself for such silliness. After all, who was she? Just a small time mage from a guild that no longer existed. She couldn't even keep the ones she loved from leaving her never mind provide comfort to someone who she barely knows. Trying to break her downward spiral she sighed and left her tent in search of local plants that could help Cobra recover.

A shimmer of gold cascaded to the right of her as she walked through the forest. Leo appeared in stride next to her, "Princess, please don't be so hard on yourself. Everything that has happened has been out of your control."

Lucy stopped and faced her trusted spirit, "That's just it though, I have no control, no pull, no sway, no means to keep those who loved or supposedly loved me close. They leave."

Leo grabbed his mage's hand gently, "Lucy, you are not alone, you have your spirits with you at all times watching and caring for you. We love you unconditionally and will always be there for you."

She smiled but it was empty, "Yea, unless my keys are taken from me and then where does that put me. Even your unconditional devotion is conditional beyond either of our control."

Leo couldn't dispute her statement despite the fact that he wanted to. If his master was ever defeated or disarmed she would lose her spirits as well. He squeezed her hand tighter looking her straight in the eyes, "We just won't let that happen. We fight for you, our princess, and we do everything in our power to make sure your safe."

Leo smiled and he could feel Lucy's happiness so he knew his message had reached her, even if it was temporary. "Now, let's find some poison for that dumbass slayer." Loke was not going to hide the fact that he did not like the poison dragon slayer but he could feel a deep pull in Lucy's soul that told him he would probably have to learn to deal with it. After collecting a few well known plants, like Hemlock and Nightshade she gave it to Leo to take back to the celestial realm for Virgo to concoct a salve and some medicine.

Once back at the tent Lucy made sure Cobra was comfortable and she just sat next to him gently holding the hand closest to him, "I don't know what happened to you. I don't know if I am doing any good, but I am trying my best to help get you better." She squeezed his hand gently, hoping he would pull through.

A shower of gold fell behind her, "I have mixed the medicine and salve, please wear these gloves as you apply it, so you don't absorb the poisons as well. Punishment Princess?"

Lucy let out a half of a laugh "No Virgo, thank you. Can you please set-up another bed so I can get some good sleep? No more stiff necks for me please."

"As you wish Princess" Virgo popped back to the celestial realm to gather everything she needed to make up a second bed in the tent. As Virgo was making herself busy with her master's request, Lucy set about cleaning the many wounds on Cobra's body and checked on the stitches and broken leg. Satisfied with how everything was looking she slid the gloves over her small fingers and began applying the poisonous salve to the worst of his wounds, stitches and broken leg.

Once finished she re-wrapped everything and proceeded to uncap the bottle to the potion and poured a tiny bit into the cap. Lifting the slayer's head slightly she lifted the cap to his lips, "Cobra if you can hear me, I am giving you something that hopefully will help." His lips parted slightly and she tipped the liquid into his mouth.

Sighing now that the job done she realized she hadn't eaten since finding Cobra yesterday. Her stomach growled but before she could make any motion to find some food Virgo appeared before her "Princess I took the liberty to make you some lunch. Please eat and rest, the effects from the poison will not be immediate."

Lucy nodded at her spirit and accepted the tray containing a small salad and half a sandwich, "Thank you for everything Virgo." She smiled warmly at her spirit as she disappeared into a poof of gold shimmering celestial residue.

Lucy quietly ate her lunch from her bed across from Cobra, watching him for any signs of distress. She speculated on what may have happened to him, clearly he fell down the hill into the river, which explains his broken leg and dislocated shoulder… possibly. The other injuries look like they were a result of a serious fight.

She also wondered what he was doing in this part of the woods. Lucy had not seen another human being for a while now.

Once she finished eating she brought her dish to her makeshift kitchen and after entering her tent she placed a gentle kiss to the injured slayer's forehead, as if it were the most natural thing to do and went to her bed for a nap.


A soft song could be heard as if it was far in the distance. It had a sweet sadness threaded into its melody. What made this music unique was the off tune harpsichord trying to blend in with the gentle vibrations of stringed instruments and the sweet soft piano chords. It still sounded so far away but seemed so familiar.

As Cobra slowly became conscious the song became louder and along with it came blooms of pain throughout his body. He was still too disoriented to focus on actual thoughts so he just drifted with the stream of random sensations and audio hallucinations.

He felt a warm weighted sensation in his right hand that part of him was curious about, but he was still too out of focus to coordinate the effort to open his eye. After a few more minutes of trying to sift through the sensations he started to think about what was wrong with him, why did he feel so heavy and exhausted. He tried searching his mind for the last thing he remembered, which was walking along a trail tracking the unusual melody. He had heard it on the edge of the Waas Forest just north of what was Cait Shelter.

That is when his memory stopped. He willed his single violet eye open and blinked a few times. Once he was able to focus he slowly realized he was in a tent, a horrendously pale pink tent. This fact puzzled him even more.

He made a more cognizant inventory of his body and realized his leg was broken with at least one broken rib and he felt a tingling sensation in three areas of his abdomen. He wiggled his fingers on his left hand and all of his toes, pleased to feel like they worked. He didn't try to move his right hand since it was warm and weighted. Next he shifted his head to the left to see his surroundings more easily and was dismayed to see more pale pink in his vision. He groaned and felt how dry his throat was. Turning his head to his right he saw a mop of golden hair and a very iconic embellished hand grasping his.

"Fuck" was uttered in a horse whisper, Cobra made the attempt to sit upright but realized almost instantly that he may have had more broken ribs than originally anticipated. Sighing as he closed his eye he went on his usual mental barrage of thoughts "For fucks sake how the hell did I end up like this, in the fuckin' Fairy Tail princess' tent. I'll be fuckin' roasted, frozen, and chopped to bits any minute now." However when Cobra used his soul listening magic he was shocked to discover it was just her.

He was equally shocked to discover that none other than Lucy Heartfilia was the one he was tracking as he entered the forest. His thoughts raced as his brain started firing up with all kinds of questions and scenarios. He paused a moment to relish in the warmth holding his right hand before he pulled it from the delicate hand. He wiggled his fingers and brought it up to his forehead to card through his hair and ponder what he should do next. Before he could really think about it though Lucy sat up and stretched.

Cracking her neck from side to side she was pleased to see that the slayer was conscious. She kept her voice low and calm, "Cobra, glad to see you're awake" as she smiled and he just peered at her choosing not to speak. "Let me get you some water, your very dehydrated" and with that said she bounded out of the tent.

Cobra shifted to get into a more comfortable propped up position, he tried his damnedest to remember what happened to him as he struggled. He didn't even flinch when he heard her approach the tent, it was only when she opened the flap, bathing him in a startling amount of sunlight did he fling his forearm to cover his eyes exclaiming, "Holy fuck the sun"!

Lucy snorted at his reaction, recalling that he always seemed rather cranky. "Damn straight." was the slayer's response to her internal musings.

Lucy didn't put much stock in the comment, she was too distracted to recall his soul listening magic at that moment. She knelt down next to Cobra and offered him the glass of water. As he took it from her hands, she reminded him, "Remember, small steady sips."

Cobra just uttered a sarcastic "Yes Mom", just as he was taking a sip of the water. After relishing the cool and soothing feeling as he swallowed, he cleared his throat to shake away some of the unpleasant scratchiness.

Anticipating his inevitable question, Lucy began to speak, "I found you three days ago just north of here slumped and practically dead in the river" she paused to see if there was any reaction, not surprised to see any, she continued on. "Your shoulder was dislocated but I set that before we got you to camp. Your right leg has a broken shin bone, Leo and Virgo helped to set it and splinted it to the best of their abilities. I had to stitch you up in a few places and discovered you had some broken ribs. Overall you lost a lot of blood. I went out and gathered some Hemlock and Nightshade and Virgo make a poisonous salve and medicine to help with your healing." she looked at him then expecting some kind of response.

Cobra simply grunted still having not removed his forearm from covering his eyes. He knew she expected some kind of response but he remained silent since he considered himself an emotionally constipated dick-wad. Cobra was thankful and beyond impressed that she actually thought to work with poisons to heal him and it stirred emotions he had tried to kill on more than one occasion.

After a brief sigh, Lucy stood "I'll check on you a little later" and she exited the tent to go bathe in the river.


Lucy knelt in the river going through the motions of washing her hair. Once the task was compete she continued to kneel there letting the small river's cool waters bite at her skin until she couldn't feel anything.

Her mind drifted to the day she broke Aquarius's key but didn't put enough energy to activate the magic that she inherited from her oldest friend. She missed the snark and bitchiness of the beautiful mermaid. She got constant updates from Aquarius's boyfriend Scorpio and they exchanged occasional letters, but due to the generally cranky nature of her broken spirit, they were relatively short communications.

Back at camp Cobra fell back to sleep to the gentle lull of the broken waltz he heard day in and day out. He noted the deepening out-of-tune sound being plucked at odd intervals. He noted that clearly the blonde who saved his life was having her own emotional constipations.

Cobra awoke a while later to the sensation of soft caress on the forehead. He immediately froze from the contact and emitted a snarl in response.

Lucy quickly removed her hand, "I'm sorry, I was checking to see if you still had a fever."

Cobra opened his eye and looked at her, noting that she simply looked at the ground. Her soul told him she was lying, she was just compelled to soothe and touch him. He knew that she had been alone for months. She was subconsciously starved for human interaction, her spirits weren't enough to satisfy the need. The look on her face coupled with what her soul was telling him compelled him to reassure her, for whatever god-forsaken reason.

"S'ok, just startled me" he said gruffly, "The only time people touch me is to attack." why he told her that beat the shit out of him.

Lucy smiled briefly, "I should have known better". Itching to change the subject, she asked the slayer, "Are you hungry at all?"

"Fuckin' starvin" was all he said.

"OK, I will have Virgo make up some soup for us." She exited the tent and called Virgo out so she wouldn't disturb Cobra's rest. This left Cobra to dwell on a great many things, none of which he really wanted to deal with. He was healing, but not fast enough for his taste, he knew the broken leg would be a few weeks before it was good enough to walk on. As if reading his mind, Lucy came back to the tent with a pair of crutches. "Here, you may want to consider taking a bathroom break before lunch." She smiled sheepishly and left before he could thank her. All his thoughts effectively cut off.

Finally making his way back after a short and unsteady journey he sat down next to the warm fire. Lucy silently handed him a mug of chicken soup and sat on the opposite side of the fire. He eyed her as he drank the soup from his mug debating on asking her what the hell was going on.

Lucy looked at him as the flames of the fire flickered between them, "My name is Lucy by the way."

"No shit, and I am Cobra" he responded coolly.

Lucy just gave a small humorless chuckle, "No shit huh? I just figured it's been so long…"

"That I would forget who you were?" Cobra interrupted, hearing the rest words from her mind.

Lucy stared into her mug of soup, "Well… yea, I mean it's not like our previous encounters were sociable"

Cobra just chuckled. "I'll give you that, I almost always forget the people I try to sacrifice to a weird fuckin' fish clock. Which, for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry for all that shit."

Looking up from her mug she saw the smirk and honesty in his eyes, she was thankful for the humor that accompanied his apology.

"Thank you for that. I forgave you all a while ago." She was thinking about how she found him and before she even asked the question he answered her.

"I don't remember a shittin' thing about what happened"

"How did you know I was going to ask that?" still not remembering Cobra's skill.

"Your soul." Cobra stopped sounding as if he would continue, but for whatever reason he kept his snarky and insulting comments to himself, much to his surprise.

Lucy just shook her head and stared into the fire, "Dammit, how could I forget."

After what felt like hours of silence, but was really only about five minutes, Cobra huffed loudly, "OK, this is getting shit ass awkward." Lucy raised her head and just stared at him. "What the fuck happened to you?"

He got everything he needed answered from her soul, so Lucy's simple response of, "Life" was barely heard under his growl. They may not have known each other well but after his encounters with the fairies and hearing them always spouting off their shtick about nakama and love and sticking together he couldn't help but feel angry for the Celestial Mage before him. She was the embodiment of what they stood for and they tossed her away, especially after what she had given up for them.

Lucy was shocked from the slayers animalistic response, she figured he heard the real answer. She looked at him with the vacancy she felt in her soul.

"Show me" he asked her, softer than she ever thought he was capable of.

Gently she pulled the necklace hidden under her shirt to reveal the broken and corroded key. He held out his hand toward her, "give it to me".

She hesitated, unsure of why, "Just give it to me a minute, I will give it right back to you." He paused, searching her eyes for a second before finishing, "I give you my word."

The words spoke directly to her soul, and in that moment she removed the necklace as she stood and handed it to him as she sat down on his side of the fire.

With a reverence she did not expect, he gently closed his hand around the broken object and brought it up to his lips, letting out a heavy breath around the object.

Lucy watched the slayers actions, truly intrigued by what he was doing as the gas he expelled swirled around his hand. When his clenched hand reached toward hers, she offered her open hand. Landing in her palm was her oldest friend's key but instead of being tarnished and broken, it was restored to its former golden luster.

Cobra looked met her beautifully sad chestnut eyes, "You'll find her again, but not if your wallowing in misery. She wouldn't put up with that bullshit any day of the week and you know it."

Without response the small Celestial Maiden lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, momentarily forgetting everything going on in her world. Tears sliding silently down her cheek she relished the physical contact with another human being. It had been so long she didn't realize how much she missed it from her old life.

"You trying to break my other fuckin' ribs?" he asked as he closed his right arm around the woman holding on to him as if her life depended on it.

He smoothed out her long golden strands not understanding his actions. He spoke gently and seriously "You got a shit ass hand dealt to you, and I am shocked that the lot of you faeries broke up the band but you can't let that define you."

He tightened his arms around her not wanting to let go of her warmth. At the realization he didn't want to let her go, he jolted back to his senses pushed her away gently "You've maxed out my kindness quota for the next fuckin' decade. I'm tired and my leg hurts like a mother fucker right now." He got up as gracefully as he could for being balanced unevenly on one leg and hobbled with the crutches back to the tent.

Lucy stayed there kneeling in the dirt feeling a range of emotions, most of which she hadn't felt in a long time. Swimming among the sadness, hope, and happiness was a sense of peace from his words and his embrace. She smiled to herself and for the first time in forever she felt happy.

Cobra settled himself in to his pink fluffy bed with a groan, his thoughts firing off a mile a minute. "What the fuck is wrong with me? I should have never let her get that close to me, why does it feel like the most natural thing in the world to hold her? People don't fuckin' touch me and I hate people being in my space."

He closed his eyes and focused on the blonde whose soul he could hear right outside the tent, he could hear the sad harpsichord harmonizing with the rest of the delicate song of her soul and he allowed himself a brief smile before drifting off to sleep.


Weeks had passed, Cobra and Lucy had fallen into a companionable routine. She helped him as he healed and his presence and companionship helped Lucy in her healing process.

Cobra had regained the memory of what happened to him but it didn't really matter to him now. He had been so enveloped in the sound of what was Lucy's soul that it all but drowned out other souls. It was easy for the unsavory mages to get the jump on him, they were quick and effective since he wasn't on guard and the idiots thought they did him in quick.

In the end they did him a favor in some twisted sense. He found the soul he was hunting and for the first time in a long time, he was happy to be around someone.

Lucy sat by the fire and was reading a book as usual when she glanced up briefly to see Cobra coming out of the woods. He walked sure-footedly, no trace of a limp.

She returned to her book but couldn't read the words, she thought about the man that has been with her. All of his previous wounds healed and he was right as rain as far as she was concerned.

It struck her then, he was healed, he was free to leave. "He is probably going to move on any day now. I wonder if he will say goodbye when he leaves or will he just stalk off into the night. Maybe I will get a sparsely worded letter." Lucy sighed briefly with her sour thoughts, not wanting to see the slayer go.

Lucy heard a growl that reverberated just to her left and she yelped in surprise. "Like hell I would leave you like that" he glared at the blonde and then muttered under his breath, "Like I would fuckin' leave you."

Lucy stood up, "I… I am sorry...wait - what did you say?"

Cobra looked up at the blonde his eyes widened slightly as he realized she heard him. He looked down as the blonde approached him.

"Fuck this shit" was all Cobra said as he grabbed the beautiful blonde in front of him and brought her into a tight embrace. "I said, like hell I would leave you." as he kissed the crown of her golden hair. She leaned back to look into his eyes to see if he was telling the truth. He smirked down at her, "I would like to get the hell out of this forest though."

She nodded her head her eyes watering lightly at the happiness she felt. "Where will we go?" she asked him.

"Anywhere we fuckin' want to."