Forgotten Memories

Chapter 14 – Just Barely There

NOTE: Thank you Rosella6199 for beta reading this chapter. You are the best :3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy tail, Hiro Mashima does

Shadows. So many shadows.

He could feel them sliding around his arms, twisting and curling, hissing and biting. As of the moment, they were uncontrollable, lifting his hair and wrapping around his limbs. But he didn't really care. He liked the shadows. They were eerie and somewhat… comforting.

Oh, how they loved to slither on the floor, whispering, always whispering. He kept telling them to stop wanting for more, but they never listened. They shadowed his face, hiding his pained eyes from the world. They never left no matter how hard he tried to control them. They were always there, restless and unsatisfied.

But she seemed to have kept them at bay every time.

Lucy once told him she found the shadows creepy. He didn't really know what to say, but after some time, his wife began to like them as much as he did. She found his presence very relaxing, so the shadows did the same effect to her. She began to tame the shadows, filling them with endless light. He never asked how she did it, but he was glad that they finally gave him peace.

However, that all changed when she, of course, gained amnesia.

Wrapping his own arms around himself, he cried silently, feeling the darkness lick his skin. His chest wouldn't stop aching. His tears wouldn't stop falling. Everything in his body was hurting.

He gasped for air.

Lucy… Lucy… Lucy…

Chanting her name like a prayer, he whispered it endlessly to the shadows, hoping to fend them back. But they kept coming, laughing and snickering.

Lucy… Lucy… Lucy…

With a deep breath, he shuddered and hid further in his arms, pleading for them to leave him alone.

Help me… Help me!

"Rogue?!"

Startled, the man lifted his head from his arms and saw Sting standing by the door, breathing heavily. He looked like he had just gone through hell and back.

"S-Sting…"

The blonde man moved as soon as he uttered his name, crouching beside his trembling body. He laid a hand on his shoulder cautiously, glaring at the shadows that flickered around him. "What happened? Where did everyone go?"

"I…" Rogue paused and furrowed his eyebrows, trying to recall what he had done. "I… snapped and… they left."

"Why did you snap?"

His eyes hardened then, glaring at the floor. "They assumed I no longer loved Lucy. But they didn't know—they didn't know how hurt I am. They don't care, don't care."

"Shh, Rogue," Sting whispered, gripping the man's shoulder tightly. "We'll get through this, okay?"

He looked doubtful when he nodded, but at least he said yes. With a sigh, the blonde fell on the floor and crossed his legs, running his fingers through his hair. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the shadows leaving Rogue. He bit his lip. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Just a bit."

Sting nodded. That was enough. "Then are you ready to go fetch Lucy? I left her in Catherine's house since I thought we would take a while. If I knew they would leave soon I wouldn't have left Lucy there."

The red-eyed man reacted instantly and stood up, patting off the dirt on his pants. Sting watched him and slowly got to his feet, stretching his arms as a gust of cold air flew in. They both stilled, watching the midnight sky briefly before jumping out the window. They needed to get Lucy.

The streets were quiet as they ran, their steps light and their presence hidden. The shadows reached out to Rogue, begging him for attention, begging to be released. He paid them no heed and continued running, knowing that his goal was Lucy and nothing more.

"Why are we running?" Sting mumbled, twitching.

Rogue was wondering the same thing himself. "I have a feeling we should be."

"And we should follow your instincts because…?"

"If we don't, we may regret something forever," Rogue said and grunted, offering him a glare. "Just hurry up."

Sting's eyes widened and he scoffed, offended. "I'm already in the same pace as you!"

"Hn."

The two continued to make their way to Catherine's house. They didn't exchange words anymore, seeing that the shadow dragon slayer wasn't in the mood to do so and that the blonde was simply too frustrated to start a conversation.

They went around the corner and as they neared their destination, Rogue's eyes widened in alarm.

"Sting!" he shouted, ceasing to point at the roofs. "Over there!"

The said man turned to the direction he was pointing at and paled instantly. "Is that… Lucy?!" he gasped out. Before he could even gather himself, Rogue was already running past him and was jumping onto the buildings, chasing after someone who had his wife thrown over his shoulder.

Sting cursed under his breath and followed after his partner, uncaring of the fact that they were making too much noise. Judging from the feral look on Rogue's face, he too didn't seem to care that they were waking up the whole town. He knew that the civilians didn't matter at all to him, especially now that Lucy was being kidnapped by someone they didn't know.

The blonde bit his lip. "Where in the world is Catherine?!"

"Sting," his partner commanded, slowing down so that they were next to each other. The blonde shuddered, feeling the shadows curling around him. "Stay below."

"What? Why?"

Rogue hissed, crimson eyes slitting dangerously low. "He'll go down eventually. It'll be hard to chase him with both of us on the roofs. Do you understand?"

Sting sighed, nodding. "Yeah."

"Good. Now go."

Now that the blonde was running on the streets and Rogue was on top of the houses, he tried to catch a glimpse of the enemy's face. His mouth and nose was covered by a mask, leaving only his eyes open in which white eyes greeted him. Frozen for a moment, he shook his head and sped up, his pace quickening with worry and anxiety. One glace at his wife and he knew she was unconscious.

That didn't sit well with him.

"Give her back," he growled loud enough for the enemy to hear.

He, in return, looked over his shoulder. His eyes squinted slightly as if he was smirking and Rogue's anger flared.

He's had enough of having Lucy taken away from him.

Within seconds, he vanished from the rooftops and appeared in front of the enemy, his eyes wide with anger and fury. The other slid to a stop and muttered a curse before twirling his finger. The wind spun around and he threw the pint-sized tornado towards Rogue. It grew as it neared him and the dragon slayer sucked in a deep breath.

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!"

He heard Sting screeching into a stop before hopping on the building as well, moving to catch Lucy who had just slipped from the enemy's hold. The white-eyed man gasped and cursed, glaring at the two of them. He hissed, his eyes darting from Rogue to Sting repeatedly. Under the moonlight, it could be seen that the man had auburn hair.

"Who are you?" The white dragon slayer asked, taking a step forward warningly.

The brunette threw his head back and laughed. "Why in the world should I answer your question?"

"It'll be your death if you leave without an answer," Rogue said, his voice dropping to a low timbre. He fisted his hands, prominent ire emanating from him.

Sting swallowed hard, trying not to focus on his friend. It was obvious that he was furious. The shadows were once again slithering around him like snakes, daring their enemy to attack, demanding him to speak. They were always there whenever he lost control, and even now, they didn't stop weaving themselves through his limbs. They curled and lashed almost as if they had their own life. However, Rogue didn't seem to care that he was losing control.

He needed to warn his partner before he started going berserk.

"Rogue."

The man twitched before relaxing his shoulders slightly, pushing back the threatening shadows around him. He didn't stop glaring at the enemy though.

"Answer the question."

The white-eyed man glanced at them from the corner of his eye, looking as if he was smirking. After a while, he finally said, "I'm someone you should be worried about." With that, he vanished from their sight.

"Oi! Damn it!" Sting yelled and continued supporting the passed out Lucy while clawing his fingers through his hair. He was frustrated. Very frustrated.

"Leave it."

He looked at Rogue who was currently glaring at the ground, teeth gritted and fists clenched. "We'll catch him some other time. Right now, we have to go back home." His eyes softened as they settled on Lucy. "She needs rest."

"Lucy?"

She turned around to glance at the owner of the voice, her eyes widening at the man with crimson eyes. He stretched his hand out, the barest hint of a smile on his face. "You're not mad, are you?"

She didn't know what to say. Was she mad? Why would she be mad? Why was he even asking that? Why so many questions? Why? Why? Why?

"Lucy…?"

Broken from her thoughts, she hesitantly shook her head, unsure of her answer. She certainly wasn't mad, but why did she feel like she should be?

"I'm not mad…" she whispered. She felt his arms wrap around her, enveloping her in warmth. She could feel all of his emotions like they were one, and for some reason, she didn't mind.

"That's good to hear," he whispered back, his breath tickling her ear.

"I promised you I'll love you until death." Was that really her speaking?

"Mm, I remember."

"You trust me, right?"

"Of course."

She jolted awake with a gasp and took in deep breaths, her forehead creasing in confusion and pain. She could feel a headache forming, and she groaned at the sensation. Her heart was pounding just as hard as her head was, and she couldn't deny the fact that she needed to be relieved of it.

Suddenly, as if she had expected a hand to reach out, she shuddered and grasped the wrist, trailing her eyes upward until their eyes met.

She swallowed hard. "Rogue."

"You're awake." It was a statement, but all his emotions seemed to have mixed in. Concern. Surprise. Gratitude. Relief. Sorrow.

"What… happened?"

Her teammate released a heavy sigh, leaning back on the chair he was sitting on. He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. "First, tell me what happened in your point of view."

She licked her lips, straining to remember the events that had occurred. "I remember going to Catherine's house… and then Sting asked her if I could say. She said it was alright, so Sting left me in her care. Catherine left to take a shower and told me to feel at home, so I went to the kitchen to drink coffee. And then…" she paused, her eyes widening as if remembering what exactly happened.

"And then a brunette with white eyes came."

Rogue's eyes narrowed, the shadows around him hissing with barely concealed anger. Lucy did not notice this and continued speaking.

"I blacked out, and I don't remember anything after that." That was a lie, of course. She could tell him about the flashback she had, but she was too afraid. When had she gotten that close with her teammate? It was not even something inside the definitions of friendship. It was intimacy. She was scared. Was she cheating on Gray?

"Lucy?" he murmured quietly, studying her with eyes filled with affection that she could not notice. "You're not telling me the truth."

"I'm not lying." She was.

"Really, then?" he said with an amused quirk of his brow. Lucy flushed lightly and suddenly stared at her own hands as if they were fascinating. "You look pale, my lo—" he caught himself, breath hitching at the nickname.

That was a close call.

"Um… you said something?"

He shook his head, his heart clenching painfully. "It was nothing."

"Okay," she said hesitantly, looking back at her clenched fists. "If you say so."

The silence stretched on for what seemed like ages. She didn't trust her voice to speak so she didn't, and somehow she was certain he was feeling the same way. Although the quietness seemed deafening, it wasn't really. It was subtly comforting her through unspoken words and vows, but she couldn't tell why. Maybe it was because words would've messed her up now since she was already confused as it was.

A/N: Hi everyone! I wanted to updated at least before a month has passed, so even though the chapter didn't go the way I planned, I finished it and had my beloved beta to beta read it. School has been hectic, and I swear I will pass out with all the work and homeworks and tests and ugh, don't even get me started on other stuff. But since I had free time the other day, I managed to polish this a bit and now here it is!

Now, there are still a lot of questions that I haven't answered and I'm sure you are dying to know them. Who kidnapped her? Who stole her memories? Will she get her memories? Will she ever remember Rogue? Will they ever capture their enemy? Is Catherine a friend or a foe? Is Minerva the culprit? Is it Sting? What about Gray? Where are the exceeds? (LOL I ACTUALLY KEEP FORGETTING ABOUT FROSCH AND LECTOR so let's say they are on a mini vacation and will be back soon!)

Now, be patient my loves and I promise your questions will be answered in time with every passing chapter. But for now, leave me a review, tell me if you liked it and wish me luck with whatever is going on :)

Love you lots!

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"If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets." - Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Byee! -Anne :D

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