Summary: Cornelia Groh had been with Mica for 3 years, almost 4. Then it all felt like it was slipping through her fingers. Luckily for her, Aunt Lucy is more than just a comfortable shoulder to cry on. Now, why is it that Sailor Fullbuster seems to have become her world overnight?
Cornelia Groh had been an early bloomer. Some would blame this for her early introduction to sexual activity while others would blame it on the fact that her father never married her mother and worked for a different guild on the other side of the country. Others still blamed this sexual proclivity on being a Fairy Tail mage. Cornelia would tell all of them to go screw themselves. She was her mother's daughter and that meant she could do whatever she wanted because it's her own damn body. So when Mica Redfox showed interest in her and actually treated her with respect? Well, she jumped on that bandwagon so quickly there might as well have been a fire under her ass.
Three years later and she still loved and respected him. But something was missing. She felt like she couldn't breath sometimes. Like she was living a lie. But how could that be? She was loved and gave love in return. Her relationship was the poster child for consent. Her mother loved her boyfriend and her father was indifferent so that might as well have been approval. Even her grandfather liked him! And yet…
"Hey, Nellie," speak of the devil, the man she was thinking of swooped in to kiss her cheek and smile down lovingly at her. Cornelia felt like a failure and a fraud wrapped in the skin of a seductress. She felt dirty and violated and like she was violating someone in return. Hiding her pain, Cornelia smiled and pecked her boyfriend on the lips. Her friends gave her weird glances as they had never seen such a tame kiss from her, but she was allowed an off day, right? Mica seemed to think so as he didn't question it. Shaking her head subtly, Cornelia tuned back into the discussion going around at the table while Mica draped himself over her, slowly suffocating Cornelia- figuratively.
On the other side of the guild, Lucy and Cana watched this and remembered a time in their lives when they too felt trapped in the most loving relationships. It's why Natsu and Lucy never worked out and why Cana had refused to marry Bacchus.
"I just don't know how to talk to her about what she's feeling," Cana whispered over her bottle of beer. These days Cana didn't drink directly from the barrel and Lucy actually consumed alcohol.
"Would you like me to talk to her? I'm not her mother and I did help Morgan out with her relationship troubles so Cornelia should know she can trust my advice," Lucy replied, taking an extra long sip of her rosé wine. Lucy grimaced into her cup as she watched her eldest basically dry hump Skylar Dreyar. Now that that relationship was out in the open, the two felt they could be as handsy as they liked. Lucy felt it time that Laxus remind the pair that this was a guild hall with young, impressionable kids, and not their own apartments.
"Would you, Luce? I just want her to be happy." As Cana said this, Cornelia turned towards them and Lucy took this as a sign the girl needed help. The look in her eyes screamed save me and Lucy was all about helping out the ladies of the guild.
"Yea, I'll catch up with you later, Cana," Lucy downed the last sip of her wine and made her way across the guild. Cornelia's eyes widened as she watched her honorary Aunt come to the table she was sitting at. "Hey, Cornelia, your mother says your punishment for missing curfew that one time is to help me clean my office. Let's go!" Cornelia didn't even pretend to look confused, she knew her Aunt was giving her an out.
"Wait, wasn't that missed curfew like two months ago?" Mica asked as he grabbed Cornelia's hand and prepared to drag her back to the table. Thinking fast, Cornelia responded,
"Yea, but I was going on a job with Bianca and Morgan so mom pushed my punishment back." In actuality, Cana had already punished her by taking away her lacrimavision privileges and she had missed four episodes of her favorite reality show. Not that she had told anyone at the guild this as only her mom knew about her secret fascination with 'Help! I'm Stranded on a Magic-Free Island!' (HISMFI) and 'Finding Fiances for Fiorians' (FFFF). Mica let Cornelia's hand go and the two women made their way up the stairs and down the corridor to the offices of the S-Class mages. Lucy and Bickslow shared an office but it was really used as Lucy's writing studio.
The office was immaculate. Cornelia looked at Lucy in confusion when Lucy gestured for Cornelia to take a seat on the chaise lounger. Slowly, Cornelia realized that Lucy must be having a talk with her like she had with Morgan. With no time to decide if she wanted to clam up or not, Cornelia spilled her guts. From how guilty she felt feeling like she was stealing something from Mica to how uncomfortable he had made her recently and her confusion with all of it. The words kept tumbling from her mouth with no stopping. Lucy sat and listened and listened some more when Cornelia had thought she was done but found she still had more feelings to word vomit.
"You know what you have to do next, right?" Lucy's question was soft, but the words echoed throughout Cornelia's head as if they had been shouted. She knew. But she didn't want to let go. Mica had been her everything for so long. He had been stability, understanding, and comfort to her when she hadn't really known herself. But at 18, she knew herself now. And herself did not go with his self. Crying, Cornelia nodded and then she couldn't stop crying.
The inevitable breakup came on a Tuesday, several weeks after she talked to Lucy and Lucy had helped her come to the realization that her relationship was doing her more harm than good. Mica didn't understand, she cried, Mica blew up, she cried, Mica ran off on a job, and she cried some more. Cana stayed home from the guild with her and two ate their way through 5 pounds of imported chocolates while they watched trashy reality tv shows the first three days. Then her friends came around. At first, Cornelia thought her friends would shun her as they were such an integrated group and all so close. But Morgan and Bianca were her friends first and they proved that to her.
"We thought you'd want some time with your mom before we came over. I know I wanted just my mom when I broke up with Thad," Morgan answered Cornelia's unasked question when the girls were situated in Cornelia's room. Sighing in relief, the girls delved into the trashy magazines, potato chips and make-up, making Cornelia feel infinitely better.
Her first week back in the guild after the breakup was awkward. Bianca and Morgan, her best friends, stuck by her side like glue and fended off the gossips and the trash talkers. But on the third day back, Cornelia needed space. Claiming she was going for a book, Cornelia snuck out the backdoor and ran straight into Sailor Fullbuster. The girls hadn't really interacted much but Sailor, at just over two years younger than Cornelia, hadn't been a regular at the guild until recently. Introducing themselves felt weird as they knew each other's mothers. Finding they had a lot in common was weird but soon they found themselves deep in a discussion about Season 11 of FFFF and how awful Ben Sentense was to Fiance Looker Aly Eerie and why she should have picked Jacobi Branche, the second runner up.
When Mica came back from his solo job six weeks later, Cornelia was happy and more alive than he had ever seen her. His heart hurt all over again and he felt the anger his mother had warned him about threaten to over take him. A guildhall brawl broke out and Mica found himself roped in and releasing his pent up anger. Unbeknownst to him and the brawl participants, Bickslow had been watching him at Lucy's directive and saw the emotions darken Mica's soul. Putting his babies into the chairs and mugs and having them throw themselves at Igneel Dragneel, Silver Fullbuster II, Kiran Redfox, and Scarlet and Simon Fernandez did the work for him. Bickslow knew the way to distract a dragon was with a fight and this fight went down in Fairy Tail history as the third longest fight.
Escaping said fight instead of participating, Bianca, Morgan, Cornelia and Sailor all dashed in different directions. Bianca ran up to her mother's office, Morgan ran to her mother behind the bar, and Cornelia and Sailor ran down to the empty library in the basement. Giggling to themselves about the hilarity of the situation and the heightened emotions Cornelia was feeling about Mica's return, the two collapsed into a pile of limbs and giggles.
"Thanks Sailor," Cornelia whispered as their giggles died down.
"What are you thanking me for? You know I'll always be here for you, Cornelia." Hearing her full name fall from Sailor's lips made her smile in a way that hearing that awful nickname from Mica never had.
"I don't know. It just seems like you came into my life in a time when I really needed you and now that Mica is back, you aren't leaving. I just," Cornelia trailed off and blushed. She didn't know how to express this part. Ever since she and Sailor had met, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. From their similar taste in everything, to their yin/yang way of dealing with the same situation, to the way her hair shone blue in the sun instead of staying the inky black everyone thought it was. Cornelia Groh was fast becoming head of heels for Sailor Fullbuster. Throwing caution to the wind. Cornelia turned to face the quizzical looking Sailor. A quick sweep of her eyes let Cornelia know the two were alone and her ears let her know the brawl was still in full swing. Taking a deep breath, Cornelia leaned forward, placed her left hand on Sailor's right cheek, closed her eyes and kissed Sailor.
Cornelia anticipated Sailor would pull back in disgust and leave and Cornelia would be alone feeling awful and confused. Instead, Sailor let out a little sigh and leaned forward, bringing one hand to thread into Cornelia's hair while the other sought Cornelia's right hand on the floor and put her hand over it. For both girls, the kiss was like coming home and a promise of all that the future could bring. It was sunshine and the tumultuous sea. They kissed and the world fell away. Lucy and Bickslow smiled and in the dark and left quietly, happy to have helped the two find love.