The party was in full swing and everyone was enjoying themselves. Sting and Melody had been walking around the guild hall, Sting showing her around and Melody taking it all in. When they had reached his office, Sting blushed a bit.

"Well, that's everything."

Melody looked around his office, stepping away to gently touch the spines of the numerous books lining the shelves. "Wow..." Her smile grew when she looked back at him. "You have so many books here that I haven't seen before!"

Sting couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Ya?" He came to stand next to her, reaching up to pull one book off a shelf. "This one is my favourite." He blushed as he showed it to her, letting her take it from him to look through it. It was a book filled with folk tales and legends and myths, stories of fantastical beings and heroes.

Melody giggled as she read through one of the shorter legends, then looked up at Sting. "I can see why this is your favourite book. There's many stories within it, each unique and special in its own way." She looked down at the book, closing it gently and handing it back to him. "I should find a copy myself and read it."

Sting looked at her, pleasantly surprised, then shook his head and smiled. "Borrow it then."

"What?"

"Borrow it, then when you've finished reading it you can bring it back." Sting said, his cheeks burning as he glanced away and rubbed his neck. "You're welcome to read any of these books." He looked back at her. "You're welcome here, any time you'd like."

Melody stared at him, surprised. Her cheeks burned and she clutched the book to her chest, a smile growing. She beamed at him. "Thank you, Sting." She reached up and placed a soft, warm kiss on his cheek before stepping back. "Come on, we should get back before the others start to worry."

Sting stood there for a moment, stunned, then made to hurry after her as she headed back towards the guild hall. Before they turned the corner to take the stairs back down to where the party was, Sting reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her.

Melody turned to see what the matter was only to find herself blushing just as she had earlier that night. They stood on the balcony above the guild hall, where she had first met Sting, and the large bay window allowed the moonlight to shine upon them. She really began to notice his handsome features, the way the moonlight turned his blonde hair silver, the way it illuminated his fair skin and danced off his crystal earring. He had worn a black two piece suit with a navy blue tie, just adding to his dashing appearance. It caught her off guard and she found herself unable to find any words to speak in that moment.

Sting held onto her hand, wanting to say something- anything- only to lose his train of thought as the moonlight illuminated her appearance as it had earlier. They stood there, speechless, eyes locked, cheeks burning. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but then moment was interrupted as something came through the bay window, shattering the glass. Breaking the spell the two Dragon Slayers seemed to be under, the cause of the commotion grabbed Melody and took off through the window again.

"Melody!" Sting cried out, then turned and jumped from the balcony to the floor below.

"Sting, what's happened?" someone asked.

Rogue looked at Sting and saw anger, worry, and fear etched across his face.

"Someone's taken Melody!" Sting yelled, ignoring everyone calling out to him as he ran out of the guild hall and started after whoever or whatever took Melody.

"Oh no, Mel!"

"Come on guys, we have to get her back!"

Rogue watched as the members of Fairy Tail and even members of the other guilds who knew Melody Cross well ran after Sting to assist in any way they could. "Sabertooth, move out! Find Melody Cross and protect the guild master at all costs!"

Already a mile ahead of the others, Sting had caught Melody's scent and followed it into the woods. Whatever or whoever took her was going to pay dearly if they hurt her.

'What if she's hurt?' Sting shook his head. 'No, don't think about that. Just get her back.' He told himself. He sniffed the air again and turned east, following it to a cliff that overlooked a large valley. He stared down into the valley, seeing a caravan hurrying out of the woods. A scream came from the direction of the caravan, and someone called out his name. "Melody!"

Just as the others were catching up to him, he took off down the side of the cliff- activating his Dragon Force- and ran towards where he had seen the caravan. Behind him, Wendy and Natsu had caught up with him thanks to Carla and Happy.

"Sting, wait!"

Sting barely acknowledged their presence, not even when his own Exceed had joined them. Another scream had gotten his attention and he turned north, following it. He caught Melody's scent on the wind and tried to pick up his pace. 'Hold on, Melody!'

Behind him, Natsu and Wendy were not far behind.

"Natsu, do you smell that?" Wendy asked.

"Ya, that's Mel but something's wrong." Natsu said, sniffing the air.

Sting had caught the scent as well and his eyes widened in fear. 'Blood!'

Just as the three Dragon Slayers had caught the scent of blood mixed with Melody's scent, they came out of the woods and stopped in front of a wooden bridge. On the other side was the caravan and with it, Melody. She was fighting against whoever was holding her, but she was losing. She cried out for Sting again, but someone hit her on the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.

"Mel!"

"Natsu, what do we do?" Wendy asked.

"We go after her of course!"

They looked over as Lector told Sting to wait a moment, but the look Sting had in his eyes was dark.

Sting was relieved to see Melody unharmed, smelling the blood on another, but when she was hit on the head and slumped forward- a trail of blood making its way down her face- he felt rage. He started making his way across the bridge towards the caravan, the intensity of his magik power growing as the white aura swirled around him. Whoever had taken Melody stood at the other side, laughing as they fired spells at him to try and knock him off the bridge. The spells didn't even phase him and he continued to advance.

Sensing his rage, the kidnappers panicked and became desperate, cutting the ropes of the wooden bridge. Lector, seeing this, sprang into action and grabbed hold of Sting before he could fall.

"Lector, we need to go after them."

"You need to calm down, Sting! We can't help her if you go charging in like that!" Lector insisted, taking him back over to the other side and setting him down with Natsu and the others.

Sting looked across the gulch as the caravan continued on its way, the kidnappers laughing in victory. His fists clenched and he forced himself to calm down a bit.

"Let's go back to the guild and see if we can figure out what to do." Lector said, looking at his partner worriedly.

Sting ignored him and started heading back the way they had come. When Wendy tried to tell him it'd be OK, that they'd get Melody back, he turned and glared at her. "We should be going after her now! She's hurt! Who knows what they're going to do to her, who they are or what they want! And you would rather let them get away with this? Isn't she your guild mate? Your friend?"

Natsu punched him at that, knocking him to the ground and glaring at him. "Don't think for a second that we don't want to go after her, too. Mel is our friend, she's a member of Fairy Tail! She's not just some damsel in distress either! She's a Dragon Slayer and she can handle herself until help can arrive!" He stepped back and sighed, his fists still clenched. "Mel has been like a sister to all of us, even being so shy. She was always so alone, didn't have any friends, but she always did everything to help out wherever she could. Then Gildarts took her to Sabertooth and they stole your banner, and when they got back it was like she was a new person." He looked at Sting as he sat up. "After she met you, Sting, Mel opened up to people. She made friends and she's been like a sister to us, always looking after us. We won't just abandon her; we'll fight to get her back."

Sting sat there, his jaw throbbing, and he looked down at his feet. "What am I doing...?" He put his face in his hands. "Why do I feel like I failed her...?"

"Love."

Everyone looked up at Carla as she said that.

Carla crossed her arms and regarded Sting sternly. "You're falling in love. Melody Cross has caught your attention, stolen your heart, and you're fighting to protect her." Her gaze softened a bit and she sighed. "I've been watching you, Sting Eucliffe. Ever since you started coming to Fairy Tail, for months now no less, you always find an excuse to talk to Melody, to spend time with her. This party, it wasn't just for the guilds was it?"

Sting blushed and looked away.

"Your silence says enough." Carla marched up to him and put her paws on his arms. "What you need to do now is ask yourself this: what is Melody Cross to you, truly? Why do you fight so hard to protect her, to make her smile and laugh? What is it that makes you try for her?"

Sting looked at the little Exceed, knowing she was right.

Carla patted his arm, seeing his answer clearly in his eyes. "Then you need to remain calm, look at all of our options, formulate a plan to retrieve her, and then we go together to rescue our dear Water Dragon Slayer."

Sting sighed, accepting Natsu's hand and letting him help him to stand.

"There you are!"

They looked back to see everyone had finally caught up with them.

Mira Jane stepped forward, looking at Sting. "What happened?"

"Someone kidnapped Melody, disappeared through those woods." Wendy said. "They had black fist emblems and they were mages."

"Black fist emblem...?"

Wendy nodded. "Do you know who they are, Mira?"

"They're from Black Stonefist."

Everyone looked at Sting.

"Sting, are you sure?" Rogue asked. "I thought we got rid of them years ago."

"So did I."

"Who's Black Stonefist?"

"They're a dark guild that specialize in earth magik." Makarov explained, coming up to them. "They were a menace in this area, though I had heard that they were defeated by the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth."

"They're trying to get back at us now." Sting said, his eyes narrowed. "Taking Melody was a big mistake." He looked at Makarov. "We need to get her back."

"Believe me, my boy, we will."

"Ya, now they're messing with Sabertooth and Fairy Tail."

Sting looked at the woods, his chest tight. 'Hold on, Melody... I'm coming for you..."