Day 4: Color

Part 2

"Colors" Halsey

(February)

"And fighting in the blue corner tonight: Erik 'Cobra' Cobranus!"

Erik stepped through the arch with one fist in the air as his entrance music played. There weren't many cheers for him; it was his first fight back after nearly three years hiatus, and he was coming back with one eye. A few fans remembered him, and they tried to shout loud enough to make up for the rest of the crowd who had actually come to see his opponent.

"Cobra is returning to the cage for the first time in three years with 6 victories and no defeats under his belt."

Erik tuned out the announcer. He stared across the mat at his opponent. Some 22-year-old kid from Brooklyn; this was only his second pro match, though he had won the first one. Cobra unconsciously scowled, and he thought he saw the kid flinch. He stepped forward to meet his opponent in the middle as the ref gave them final instructions and they touched gloves.

The crowd disappeared. His trainer disappeared. It was just him and the kid in the cage, with the ref a sort of buzzing presence beyond the sphere of his concern.

Lucy tensed in her seat next to Laxus as Erik entered the cage. Her brother glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow, but she ignored his questioning gaze. She was beginning to think that coming was a bad idea. Gajeel had fought in the previous bout, so it wasn't like she was really there to see Erik fight. Still, she'd been watching her unofficial brother fight for years; she was used to seeing him come out of the cage bruised if not bloody. Seeing her secret lover in the same state was something else entirely. Especially when she was hoping to bump him up from secret lover to secret boyfriend.

She leaned forward in her seat as the first round began. Erik's opponent tried to take him to the mat, but he wasn't having any of that. Erik quickly regained his feet and started striking at the kid, who was obviously overwhelmed by the older man's speed. Lucy unconsciously bit her lip as the kid went in for another takedown and actually managed to get Erik on the floor this time.

Somewhere in the struggle for dominance, a tiny black bit of plastic popped onto the floor. The kid had lost his mouthpiece; the ref picked it up and looked for an opening to pop it back in for him, but then the ref froze for a second as Cobra—Erik had clearly left the building—started whaling on his opponent. Lucy leaned forward farther with her eyes wide as the ref began desperately trying to separate the two.

"Erik!" Someone yelled from the stands, though it was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. Lucy thought it might have been her, but there was a roar of white noise in her ears, so she couldn't be sure. Cobra paused, and then he allowed the ref to pull him away while his opponent's corner man and the cut man rushed into the cage.

"What the fuck just happened?" Laxus muttered.

After a short conference among the officials, Erik was declared the winner. His barely conscious opponent was helped from the cage while someone followed to clean up the blood as it fell from his destroyed face.

"That kid was a fucking moron," Gajeel said as he came up on Lucy's free side.

"What happened out there?" Laxus asked.

"Idiot popped off about Zeref when his mouthpiece fell out. He clearly didn't know anything about the situation; just knew enough to get himself seriously injured."

Lucy's eyes followed Erik as he left the cage. His shoulders drooped slightly, and she was sure that it wasn't due to fatigue from the short-lived fight. She wanted to go to him, but with her brother sitting right next to her that was impossible. Laxus was already eyeing her speculatively as it was. She'd never hated the hiding more than in that moment.

"Cobra will be fine," Laxus said. "Let's get something to eat."

Lucy nodded and let her brother lead her out of the arena as the fighters for the next round made their entrances. Gajeel trailed behind them. It wasn't really fair to call it an arena. It was really just a banquet hall in a casino where a cage had been constructed with dining tables strewn throughout the room. Lucy followed her brother's hulking form blindly as he wound through the tables to reach the door. The casino had an adjoining restaurant with a buffet, so they headed for that.

She could still hear the slight sounds of the slot machines through the glass doors of the restaurant. She wasn't even sure what she'd put on her plate, and she just pushed it around as her thoughts strayed again and again to the one-eyed fighter.

"You okay there, Twinkie?" Laxus asked. Lucy nodded sharply and stuffed a forkful of something green into her mouth. She nearly gagged as the taste of whatever the hell it was hit her, and she spit it into a napkin. She took a sip of water to rinse out her mouth.

"I'm fine. Just… There was a lot of blood," Lucy said. She felt queasy thinking about it; not due to the blood itself really, but Laxus didn't have to know that.

"Cobra can be vicious," Gajeel mumbled.

"Stop talking with your mouth full, man," Laxus groaned. "Eat or talk. It's not hard."

Gajeel flipped him off before returning his attention to his nearly empty plate.

"Anyway," Laxus said as he turned his attention back to his twin. "Enough about Cobra. I'd rather not think about him. How are things with Bix?"

Lucy internally groaned. That particular topic wasn't any more appealing than the previous one, but she guessed her brother would find out sooner or later.

"I actually told him I couldn't see him anymore," Lucy muttered. She stabbed at something that looked like meat, but it might have been a mushroom. The sauce made it hard to tell. Lucy wasn't sure she would have had any appetite for this meal even if she weren't stressing over Erik.

"Why?" Laxus asked harshly. Lucy flinched, and he gentled his tone. "I mean, what brought that about?"

"I felt like I was leading him on, Lax," Lucy said. "I like him a lot, but only as a friend. He's a great guy, but… I just really don't think I'm ready for dating. I told him I'd still love to hang out, but I know he's disappointed."

"Yeah, he really had a thing for you," Laxus agreed. They finished eating in silence.

Meanwhile in the changing room, Erik was at war with himself. Blood roared in his ears as he slowly unwound the sweat-stained tape from his hands. He was distantly aware that Makarov was trying to talk to him, but he couldn't hear anything beyond the roar of his own pulse as his heart rate refused to slow. Adrenaline still coursed through his body, and it was all he could do to methodically remove the tape instead of ripping it from his hands. He took deep breaths and tried to concentrate on the slow movement of the tape as he unwound it. He finally ran out of tape.

"Sit down, boy," Makarov said. Erik finally glanced at his trainer before looking back at his hands. They were shaking. He dropped onto the bench behind him, and he realized that he was utterly exhausted.

"I wasn't ready," Erik muttered.

"You were ready; that kid was a fool," Makarov replied. He hopped up on the bench next to Erik. "I don't know if someone put him up to it, or if he knew just enough to be a danger to himself. Either way, it's not your fault."

"I could've killed him."

"But you didn't. You pulled yourself back."

Erik! He heard the voice cry out to him through the rage, through the crowd hungry for blood and violence. He shouldn't have been able to hear her like that. He might have just imagined it after all. Erik let his head fall into his hands. His palm pressed against the mound of scars over his empty eye socket as his fingers gripped his forehead.

"You'll get over this, my boy. We'll start training again after a day of rest."

"No," Erik said. He dropped his arms to his knees and fixed his eye on Makarov. "I won't risk it. I'm done. The next idiot might not be as lucky as this kid was."

Makarov held his student's gaze for a moment before pursing his lips thoughtfully.

"Take a week, then," Makarov said. "Sort yourself out. If at the end of a week you still believe you shouldn't go back to the cage, alright. Either way, I hope you will return to the gym. Even if you never set foot in the cage again, you still have that other dream."

Erik turned to stare at the floor, but he gave a short nod. His mind was already made up, but he knew Makarov wouldn't accept his answer now. And the old man was right; he did have that other dream.

Makarov left Erik to finish getting cleaned up and dressed alone. He went to the sink and slowly rinsed the blood off his forearms and face. None of the blood was his. Erik felt numb. He kept hearing the kid mention Zeref, but then he would hear that other voice calling his name. Lucy. Whether he'd really heard her or just imagined her voice; she was the one that pulled him back. The ref had been struggling to get him off, but when he heard his name from her lips… The sound tore at his insides. The pain and heartbreak in the single word shredded him.

He splashed water on his face and rubbed at a stubborn spot of dried blood on his cheek just below his scars. He remembered the feel of her fingertips and her lips ghosting over his face the night he told her how he got those scars. He'd felt so peaceful despite the ever-present undercurrent of rage that flowed through his body ever since the incident. She'd soothed the beast, but she hadn't tamed it.

"You have to let her go before you hurt her," he told his reflection. He'd just gotten her back, but he couldn't keep her. She'd calmed the rage in him before, but what if she couldn't the next time? What if someone else mentioned Zeref's name with the cruel intentions of the kid in the cage and she got in the way? He gripped the edge of the sink until his sore knuckles turned white.

"Let her go."

COLU*COLU*COLU

A week after the fight, Lucy stood nervously at the backdoor of Crime Sorciere waiting for someone to answer the door. The wind was cold even through her puffy winter coat, and the sun had dipped too far below the trees to offer any warmth. She waited several minutes before knocking again a bit impatiently as she shivered and tugged her hood tighter around her ears. She raised her hand to knock a third time when the door swung open. She nearly hit Jellal in the face with her mitten-covered hand before pulling her wrist back and dropping her hand to her side.

"Is he here?" She asked. Jellal furrowed his brow and glanced over his shoulder before giving her a sharp nod.

"Well, can I see him?" Lucy asked. She crossed her arms under her chest and fought the urge to start tapping her foot. Erik had been avoiding her all week. He wouldn't answer her texts, and he practically sprinted from their classroom the day before so she couldn't talk to him. Jellal glanced over his shoulder again before stepping out on the porch and closing the door behind him.

"Now probably isn't a good time, Lucy," he said. "Erik has been… not himself."

"Which is why I need to talk to him!" Lucy exclaimed. "I know what he's doing, and he needs to pull his head out of his ass."

Jellal's face contorted in an odd expression for a moment, and Lucy realized he was trying not to laugh. She scowled at him. Her obvious anger seemed to help him get his mirth under control.

"I know you just want to help, but given that you and Erik haven't spoken in months, I'm not sure you're the one to help him," Jellal said.

"Haven't spoken in months?" Lucy's face scrunched up as she tried to make sense of the statement. Jellal raised an eyebrow at her confusion. "He didn't tell you we're… complicated… again?"

He shook his head, and Lucy groaned.

"Stubborn ass," she muttered. "Well we are. Complicated. I don't know, but I need to see him. I know he's upset about his fight, but that doesn't mean he has to start avoiding me again. I just want to help."

Jellal rubbed his cheek as he thought about this new information. Lucy fought the urge to start shaking him until he let her pass. Decking him sounded like a fine idea, too.

"I don't think right now is a good idea," he finally said. "Come back in about an hour. Erik will be out at that point. We'll talk more then."

Without waiting for her reply, Jellal turned and walked back into the house. He closed the door firmly behind him. Lucy could only stare at the closed door for a moment with her mouth hanging open. She finally regained her composure and stormed back to Fairy Tail with murder in her eyes. She was just passing behind another of the houses when she heard someone calling her name in a stage whisper. Lucy paused; she turned to find Ultear hurrying towards her from the backyard of Grimoire Heart.

"Lucy, thank you for waiting. I… I've wanted to speak with you for some time, but I wasn't sure how to go about it," Ultear said. She twisted a kitchen towel between her hands as she spoke.

"What do you need, Ultear?"

"Well, it's Erza. You're going to think that I'm a terrible friend, but I only recently found out about her break up with Jellal."

Lucy's mouth dropped open for the second time in less than five minutes as a dozen thoughts ran through her head. The loudest and most easily expressed was: "What?"

Ultear hung her head as she explained that Erza had been avoiding her for months, but she hadn't thought much of it. They were both so busy in their final year that it hadn't seemed off until winter break.

"And when I finally did make a real effort to contact her, she just wouldn't speak to me," Ultear finished. "I thought about just marching over to Fairy Tail to confront her about it, but… well, considering the uproar over Yukino and Macbeth…"

"I get it," Lucy snapped. Ultear flinched, and Lucy regretted losing her temper. She tried to gentle her tone as she asked, "So you want me to talk to Erza?"

"Please! Or at least, can you tell me why she's angry at me? I know she must be upset over the break up, but I'm not sure what that has to do with me."

Lucy mentally groaned. Why was she the one taking care of everyone's secret relationships and friendships? Wasn't dealing with her own enough?

"They broke up at the masquerade, and as soon as it happened, Jellal went to flirt with you. Then, you didn't talk to her for two months. She thinks Jellal left her for you."

Ultear's hand flew to cover her mouth, and she looked like she might be sick. Lucy took an unconscious step back in case the woman really did throw up in her direction. Ultear started babbling incoherently as tears formed in her eyes, and Lucy quickly moved forward to hug her.

"Hey, hey, it's just a misunderstanding. I told her when it happened that it wasn't possible. You obviously like Erik more than Jellal anyway, and there's no way you would do that to her. She's just upset. I'll talk to her, I promise."

"Thank you, Lucy," Ultear whispered. She hiccupped a few times and crushed Lucy to her before drawing back to look at her. "But what do you mean about Erik? Don't tell me my flirting gave you the wrong idea, too. I know La—. I mean, I know it might look that way to others, but we're just friends. He's all yours."

There were too many potential questions lurking in Ultear's brief speech for Lucy to deal with in that moment, so she just ignored all of it in favor of finding Erza immediately. She shooed Ultear back to her house and continued to Fairy Tail where she hoped to find the redhead. They had a mixer planned with Sabertooth the next day, so the house was buzzing with girls running between rooms talking about outfits and boys. Lucy dodged a group in the kitchen with a tight smile and wave before barreling up the stairs to the president's room. Erza lounged on her bed poring over a textbook while Mira went through her closet casting clothes into two piles behind her.

"Hey Erza, want to run into town on some errands with me?" Lucy asked. She tried to convey with her eyes that Erza really needed to say yes to this.

"I'm trying to study, Lucy. Midterms aren't that far away, you know," Erza said without looking up. Lucy dropped to her knees by the president's bed and grabbed the hand closest to her.

"I could really use your help with a particular errand," Lucy muttered. Erza finally glanced up, and Lucy raised her eyebrows high and widened her eyes.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Mira asked with concern when she saw the blonde's expression.

"Oh yeah, I'm swell," Lucy said. She laughed nervously and tugged on Erza's hand as she stood. "Erza's just running into town with me. See you later!"

She barely gave Erza time to put on her shoes and coat before dragging her down the stairs and out the door. Lucy didn't slow down until they were on the sidewalk outside and she was sure that Erza wasn't going to try to escape.

"I just talked to Ultear," Lucy said. She had to reach out and grab Erza's arm again as the redhead tried to make a beeline back for the house. "Stop being a baby!"

"Lucy, I don't care what she had to say. I don't believe a word of it."

"Yeah? Well, I also spoke to Jellal within the last half hour. He looks like shit, by the way. So does Ultear for that matter." Lucy maintained her grip on Erza's arm as she continued walking down the sidewalk. Lucy paused for a moment to glance around the empty street before dragging Erza around the side of the nearest Greek house, which happened to be Grimoire Heart. Erza tried to plant her feet, but Lucy proved stronger in this instance. Lucy stopped by the backyard fence where she had left Ultear a little while before.

"Now, listen to me," Lucy said sternly. She turned Erza to face her and put a hand on each of her shoulders. "Jellal did not cheat on you with Ultear. She didn't even know you two broke up until last month. You will go in there, and you will talk to her like a grown ass woman. Then, you will come with me to Crime Sorciere, and you will talk to Jellal like a grown ass woman. Got me?"

"Lucy, this is not necessary—"

"Ah!" Lucy silenced her protests by placing a finger over Erza's lips. She narrowed her eyes at the older woman. "I said, got me?"

Erza nodded slowly. Lucy released her shoulders. Erza straightened her back as she went through the gate to the back door. Lucy hung back awkwardly in the tree line for what felt like an excruciatingly long time before she heard a muffled shriek from inside the house. She couldn't tell who made the sound or what emotion it was intended to convey, and she wondered if she should run in there to make sure Erza hadn't completely ignored her and decided to kill Ultear anyway. A few moments later, her fears were negated as the two presidents came out with their arms wrapped around each other's waists to meet Lucy by the gate.

"Better, I take it?" Lucy said with a smile.

"We cleared everything up," Erza agreed.

"Now, go fix things with Jellal," Ultear said.

She released her grip on Erza and gave her a push towards the gate. Erza nodded before grabbing Lucy's hand and running towards the frat at the end of the street. Freed answered the door. He just stared at the two women in shock for a moment before smiling widely and ushering them inside.

"Jellal is upstairs," Freed said. Lucy gave Erza's hand a squeeze before releasing it. Erza gave her a terrified look, and Lucy silently shooed her towards the stairs. She smiled softly as her sister slowly disappeared to try to get her boyfriend back.

"It seems you are the peacemaker of late," Freed said when she turned back to him.

"Not by choice," Lucy replied. "I'm glad I can help the people I care about, though."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Ah, where are my manners?" Freed said. He waved her to the couch. "Sit, please. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thanks, I'm good. Where's everyone else?" Lucy asked as she sat down.

"An event at the comic store. I was actually about to join them. Would you like to come?"

They both glanced up at the ceiling as a loud thump sounded overhead. Lucy thought it sounded like a body hitting the floor. Did somebody faint?

"Oh Jellal!" was the next thing they heard. Freed turned bright red, and Lucy leapt up from the couch.

"Yup, comic store. Right now. Sounds awesome," Lucy said. Freed grabbed his coat from a rack by the door, and they quickly exited the frat house before they could hear anything else echoing through the empty halls.

As they strolled through the busy Friday night streets, Lucy wondered if it was a good idea to be walking so visibly with Freed. Sure they were friendly at their parents' business gatherings, but that was it. Despite the cold, students and locals were out in force. Most of the snow from the previous day had melted, but there were still a few patches fetched up against lamp posts and trashcans. Everyone was tightly bundled up in coats and knitwear. The more she thought about it, the more Lucy realized it was unlikely that anyone would recognize her. Her puffy coat and three layers of thigh high stockings made her look twice her normal size, and she had a scarf wrapped around half her face. By the time she had decided she was safe, they'd made it to the store.

Freed held the door open for her, and Lucy stepped into the warmth and bright colors of the store. A large banner over the cash register proclaimed happy anniversary.

"Weird, I thought this place opened over the summer," Lucy mused aloud.

"It did," Freed said. "This is the second anniversary of Crime Sorciere, or at least, of us making the decision to form Crime Sorciere."

"So why here instead of at the house?"

"Because this is where the magic moment occurred," Macbeth said. He threw an arm around Lucy's shoulders and pulled her further inside. "It was an unused building owned by my dad at the time. We used to hang out here until we got the house and I opened this place."

"Wait, wait, wait," Lucy said. "I thought you just worked here. You own it?"

"Well, co-own with my father. He put up the starting capital, but I've nearly paid all of that back." He offered to take Lucy's coat as Yukino appeared from the door behind the register. The silver-haired woman squealed and launched herself at her Big Sister.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Yukino said. "Isn't this great?"

"I don't think she can breathe," Macbeth said as he gently pried Yukino's death grip hug from Lucy's neck. Yukino transferred her grip to him instead, and he kissed her lightly on the forehead. Lucy smiled at them, though she was pretty sure from the scent of Yukino when she attacked that the younger woman was completely sloshed. She'd have to reprimand Macbeth about that later. Lucy surveyed the room as she searched for a particular head of maroon hair.

"He's in the back," Macebth said. Lucy's eyes shifted to him, and he gestured with his head towards the door Yukino had emerged from. "We wouldn't let him miss the party, but he doesn't really like being around people lately."

"I just took him some food, but I said I'd come back with a drink," Yukino said from where she'd nuzzled against Macbeth's neck. She gestured lazily across the room. "Cocktail stuff is over there."

Lucy cocked an eyebrow at Macbeth. He had to have told Yukino about Lucy's relationship with Erik, because Lucy knew that she had never gotten around to telling her Little about it. He just grinned at her before whisking his inebriated girlfriend away. Lucy rolled her eyes and made her way to the table Yukino had pointed out. A small smile tugged at her lips as she surveyed the drink options. After a few moments of mixing, she had two whisky sours in hand and headed for the door at the back.

Erik had his back to the door as he stared out the window. There wasn't much of a view as it just faced a dark alleyway with a bit of moonlight filtering down to highlight bits of cobblestone and trash. She could make out a brick wall and dumpster through the dusty panes. Lucy closed the door with her foot, so it closed with a bit more force than she intended.

"Thanks, Yuki. Just set it on the desk, please," Erik said without turning around.

"Yuki's a little busy snuggling with her boyfriend at the moment," Lucy said. Erik stiffened in his seat, but his posture relaxed again quickly.

"What are you doing here?" He asked the window. Lucy slowly walked around the desk to stand beside him with the red plastic cup held out towards him.

"I brought you a drink," she murmured. Erik glanced from the cup to her face quickly before grabbing the cup with a grunt of thanks. Lucy set down her own drink before hopping up to sit on the desk. She swung her feet a bit as she stared at the window.

"It's kind of gloomy sitting in the dark," Lucy said. She reached over to turn on the old-fashioned oblong lamp on the desk. The desk lamp cast enough light on the window to throw their reflections back at them. Erik glared at her through the reflection.

"Go home, Emma," he said.

"Not until you tell me why you're avoiding me, Gambit," Lucy said as she sipped at her drink. She grimaced as she realized there was just a tad too much lemon juice in it. She looked back at their reflections to see him still staring at her, but the glare had been replaced with something she couldn't quite read through the dusty pseudo-mirror. Lucy set her drink back on the desk and stepped down from her perch. She reached over and plucked Erik's cup from his loose grip and set it aside as well before straddling his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm not a mind reader like the real Emma Frost, Gambit," she whispered. "Tell me what's wrong."

Erik groaned as his hands came up to rest on her hips without his consent. He had to force his gaze away from her sweater stretching tightly across her chest so he could look her in the eye. With her this close to him, he was having trouble remembering why he'd been avoiding her in the first place. She removed one of her hands from his neck to caress his cheek. He leaned into the touch, and as her fingertips grazed the edge of his scars, he remembered. Erik drew in a shaky breath and grasped her hand to pull it away from his face.

"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered. Lucy tilted her head to the side as she mulled over the statement. Hurt her how? Was he seeing someone else? Was he worried he'd break her heart down the road?

Erik sighed when he realized he was going to have to explain further. His thumb rubbed circles on the back of her hand as he tried to find the words.

"Last weekend in the cage, I nearly killed that kid because he said the wrong thing at the wrong time."

"That wasn't your fault, Erik," Lucy interrupted. Erik brought their interlocked hands up to press against her mouth.

"Just, chill for a sec, 'kay?" He said. She nodded. "His fault, my fault. Not important. The point is, it showed me that I'm still vulnerable to certain memories. What if I wasn't locked in the cage with just him and the ref? What if I was on a street with a bunch of people? What if I was somewhere with you?"

He saw the comprehension dawn in her eyes, and he pressed their hands over her lips again before she could speak.

"I know what you're going to say, Emma. But you're wrong. I can't guarantee that I won't accidentally hurt you in my rage. You or anyone else. I told Makarov I'm dropping out again. I'm done fighting for good. I'm going to focus on coaching, though I'm not even entirely sure that's a good idea, either."

Lucy used their entwined fingers to pull his hand away from her mouth roughly.

"But Erik, you love fighting."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't give me that look," she said. "I could see it. I see it when I watch you spar, and I saw it that night before things went wrong. You like being in the cage. I can't pretend to understand it, but I see it. You can't give that up."

She wrapped the fingers of the hand at the back of his neck into his hair to hold his head in place as she leaned into him.

"As for hurting me… You should know that you hurt me this week by avoiding me and making me worry about you. But I want you to know that I trust you; I know you'll never lay a hand on me. Besides, I can take care of myself, Gambit."

She didn't wait for his reply before she covered his lips with hers. She tightened her grip on his hair slightly as she squeezed the hand that was still locked with hers. Maybe using his desire for her to drive home the point that he couldn't get rid of her was a little underhanded, but she had missed him too much to care. She didn't know how she'd made it three months without him before when the past week had left her exhausted and unfocused.

Erik's free hand crept to her lower back, and he pulled her more tightly against him. He knew what she was doing, but he didn't care. Avoiding her had been a bad idea. He needed her. He'd been even more surly than usual all week, and he'd gone without his usual outlet of wearing himself out at the gym. He wouldn't doubt that the whole frat had been in on some scheme to get Lucy to the store for this very purpose. If so, he'd have to remember to thank them.

They finally broke apart for air, but Lucy's smile nearly took his breath away as quickly as he regained it.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. He stroked a finger down her cheek as he tried to store away in his memory the image of her in that moment.

"Forgiven," she said. She nipped at his finger before adding, "But don't do that to me again. Talk to me. Don't shut me out."

"I promise, Emma," he said. He pulled her face down to capture her lips again. Neither of them noticed the figure in the alley beyond the dusty window panes who slowly clenched his hands into fists at his sides.

COLU*COLU*COLU

The Sabers were lucky it had snowed again the night before, otherwise their winter-themed mixer might have been a bust. As it was, Lucy dodged a shoddily crafted snowball as she ducked behind the wooden barriers erected for the snowball fight. She scooped up a handful of the too powdery snow and tried to bend it to her will. Movies made this look so easy, but snow in the southern Midwest did not like being used as projectiles apparently. She watched Gray pop over the barrier briefly to lob a perfectly round ball at the other team, and she scowled at it as it connected with Elfman's head without breaking apart before contact.

"How the hell do you do that?" She grumbled when Gray rejoined her kneeling behind the wall. He just shrugged and grinned at her as he started forming another one.

"Yo! Bonfire's up and going if anyone wants s'mores," Laxus yelled from the side of the house. Lucy instantly ditched her poor attempts at snowballs and ran in a crouch until she was safely around the side of the house by the bonfire. Laxus smirked at her as he dusted some snow off her shoulder.

"Looks like you got your ass handed to you, Twinkie," he said. Lucy stuck her tongue out at him.

"Shut up and point me to the marshmallows."

Lucy slowly twirled the unbent wire hanger over the fire as she tried to get the two marshmallows on the end a nice golden brown. Her tongue poked out of her mouth slightly as she concentrated. The last four times she'd ended up with blackened husks that she had to hand off to Cana, who loved the extra crispy marshmallows but hated actually toasting them herself. Cana was sitting back in the snow angel indentation she had made as she waited for Lucy to screw it up again.

"Luce, can we talk?"

Lucy nearly dropped the hanger when Natsu murmured in her ear. How the hell did he get that close to her without a) her noticing or b) somebody stopping him? Despite being split for six months now, the brothers and sisters were usually hyper vigilant about not letting Natsu anywhere near Lucy. She'd made it clear that she wasn't interested in any kind of interaction with him, and after the first twenty rebuffs, he'd stopped trying to get close to her. She hadn't thought about him in a while, but his sudden proximity made her a little nervous. The expression on his face when she glanced up at him made her even more fidgety; he was a complete blank. Natsu was never that emotionless; he wore his feelings for the world to see, but right now, he wasn't giving anything away.

"You're burning them," Natsu said. He reached over and plucked the hanger from her hands as he brought the marshmallows to his face to blow out the small flames that had sprung up on one edge.

"Well, there's two more for Cana," Lucy said with a sigh. She glanced around for her roommate and realized why Cana hadn't come to her aid at the first hint of salmon hair in the vicinity. She was too busy giggling at Sting crouched beside her as he played with a lock of her hair. Lucy shook her head in disgust and turned back to her ex. "What do you want, Natsu?"

"Just to talk." Natsu pulled one of the marshmallows off and popped it in his mouth. He offered her the other one, but Lucy wrinkled her nose at the blackened edge of it, so he ate that one, too.

"About anything in particular or just wanting to shoot the shit?"

"Maybe both?" Natsu rubbed the back of his neck in a familiar gesture that tugged at her heart. "Please, just take a walk with me. Five minutes."

Lucy looked around the bonfire again. Most people had retreated into the house, though she could also still hear the sounds of battle coming from the snowball barricades around the corner. Cana was fully immersed in flirting with Sting, and no one else was paying any attention to Lucy and Natsu, either. Seeing no rescue forthcoming, Lucy turned back to him and nodded before striding to the small woods behind the house that lined an empty creek bed. Her breath fogged in the air in front of her as she stopped by the empty creek and turned to face him.

"Five minutes," she said.

"I miss you," Natsu said.

"Is that seriously what you want to talk about? Because in that case, I'm going back to the party." Lucy started to walk away, but Natsu grabbed her arm.

"Wait, please. I just… I know I screwed up, Luce, but I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back. I do. I just want you to forgive me."

Lucy sighed, but she stopped trying to pull away from him.

"I have forgiven you, Natsu. I forgave you a while ago."

He grinned at her and stepped forward as he tried to pull her into a hug, but Lucy backed away. She tried to pull his hand off her jacket.

"I said I forgive you. That doesn't mean we're friends again, and that doesn't mean I miss you," she said. Natsu froze. The grin slowly faded from his face, and Lucy flinched at the hard look he directed at her in its place.

"It's because of him, isn't it?" Natsu said. Lucy was still trying to get his hand off her arm, but he tightened his grip on her jacket so that she could feel his fingers digging through the fluffy layers.

"Bickslow has nothing to do with it," Lucy said.

"I'm not talking about Bickslow. It was obvious you weren't really interested in him. Nobody else wanted to see it, but it was obvious to me. You just dated him because Laxus wanted you to."

"Then who are you talking about?" Lucy said. She tried again to tug her arm from his grasp, but his fingers just held her more tightly. He stepped forward again, and Lucy backed up until her back hit a tree.

"Don't play dumb, Lucy. You may be blonde, but I know you've never fit the stereotype. How long have you been in his bed? Did you run straight from me to him? Were you laughing together about how you dumped me? Did you tell him why?"

"Natsu, you're hurting me," Lucy said calmly. She'd never seen this side of Natsu before. She spoke to him as you would a wounded animal because that is what he reminded her of, but she knew that wounded animals could be the most dangerous. "I don't know who you mean, but let me go. You don't want to hurt me."

"I'm talking about fucking Cobra, Lucy!" Natsu yelled. His face was inches from hers; his features were drawn tight with anger. "Don't try to deny it. I saw you with him last night at that nerd store."

Lucy's blood seemed to freeze in her veins, and it wasn't from the snow that had started falling again around them. The window at the store. It faced an alley, so she hadn't thought about it, but the light from the desk lamp must have lit them up for anyone to see. Why Natsu had been in that alley wasn't important, but if he did see them…

"What would they think, Luce? Your sisters. Your brother. Your parents. You don't know him like I do, Lucy. You don't know what he's capable of," Natsu whispered now as he pressed her against the tree with his lips by her ear.

"Get away from me," Lucy yelled. She tried to shove him away, but he still maintained his grip on one arm while the other was lodged between them.

"Aw, hush now, babe. Wouldn't want them to find out, now would you?"

"You have secrets, too, Natsu," Lucy hissed. Natsu drew back enough so that she could see her smirk.

"Sure, but you'd never tell anyone. You promised, and you never break your promises," he said. "I could promise you the same: to keep your secret. But there would be a cost."

"Fuck you!" Lucy yelled again. "Let me go, you fucking lunatic!"

She squirmed in his grasp and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at the sneer coating the face she'd once thought so handsome. She felt tears gathering in her eyes. But then, he was gone. Lucy opened her eyes to see Natsu a meter or so away facing off against Erik.

"She said let go, asshole," Erik snarled. Natsu glared at him from his fighting stance. Then, Natsu's features smoothed over and he smiled as he stood in a more relaxed posture.

"This isn't over, Cobra," Natsu said. "I'll just add it to the list of reasons to destroy you. Zeref will be out in a matter of days. I can't wait for him to take your other eye."

Natsu turned abruptly and headed back to the Sabertooth house. Erik lunged towards him, but Lucy ran forward and wrapped her arms around his waist with her face pressed into his back.

"Stop. Please. Stop. It's not worth it." She wasn't entirely sure what she was babbling as she tried to keep Erik from going to kill her ex. Part of her wanted to just let him do it.

"Okay, Emma," Erik said. "He's gone."

Lucy sobbed and sank to her knees in the snow. Flakes continued falling around them as Erik knelt and gathered her in his arms. Lucy tried to draw in deep breaths of the cold winter air as she gripped the edge of Erik's jacket. She'd never seen Natsu like that before. She knew that Zeref was at least slightly deranged, and now she wondered if it ran in the family. She distantly heard laughter from the house just out of sight, and she wondered how no one had heard her yell. When she finally had her breathing back under control, she pulled back enough to look up at Erik.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you; you're timing was nearly perfect, but why are you back here?"

Erik's murderous look faded to a slight sheepishness.

"Well… you probably aren't aware, but we've been embroiled in a prank war with Sabertooth since September. It's still ongoing."

Lucy's eyebrows rose. How the hell had she missed that? She thought everything stopped after the masquerade ball.

"It's been very hush-hush. Highly covert missions. Nothing they could pin on us or us on them. Everyone made a silent agreement not to let it get around to the faculty again. I was… scouting for the next one. Anyway, you need to get back before someone misses you. Come by the house later and explain what the hell that was about. And don't—" He broke off to kiss her fiercely before continuing. "Don't let him get you alone again, Emma."

"I won't, Gambit."

He helped her to her feet, and she leaned up to kiss him again before heading back to the party. Erik watched her walk out of sight. The urge to find and murder Dragneel still burned brightly, but he bit it back. There were other ways to take care of that particular menace.

A/N: Thanks to everybody who's following, favoriting and reviewing!

Btw, random question time. I just spent the day wandering around the Texas State U campus in San Marcos (hence the sort of late-ish update) because I'm considering going there for a Master's in Technical Communication next year. Does anyone go to TSU or has gone or know someone who does and has an opinion on the school itself, the graduate school, or the program in particular? I have no idea if I want to go or not (or even if it's worth it) so any input is greatly appreciated! Send me a PM if you have any advice :)

And thanks for reading!