Disclaimer - Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima & all things Pradesh belong to DESNA
Lucy pouted for a full day and a half, locking herself away in her apartment before she admitted to herself she was being childish and forced herself to head back to the guild. She had just turned the corner from her building when she was greeted with a whistling shadowquip mage. "And where have you been stellina?"
"I wasn't feeling well so I took some time to rest if you must know." She started walking faster to get past him, but he simply circled her and walked backwards in front of her so she couldn't avoid him.
"Hmm, well I am glad to see you are better and returning to gift your nakama with your presence. It was rather dull yesterday with you gone after Cristoff left. Although Cobra is passable company."
"Your brother left?" She stopped avoiding eye contact and looked at him in surprise. Proof that her plans were a complete waste of time and a failure, she supposed. She had known from the start that there was a low chance of success no matter how strong her intuition had been. "I thought he was going to stay a few weeks more to work with Wendy still?"
Vander just shrugged and returned to her side, "It seems there was a sudden change of plans. He might return later." He paused to let that sink in before continuing. "You left pretty suddenly the other evening."
Lucy frowned. "As I said, I wasn't feeling well."
"I wasn't aware sulking was a malady." The blonde glared at him and picked up her speed again, but said nothing. "It was a shame you didn't stick around even 10 minutes more." With that he just started whistling again, easily keeping pace with her.
Ten more minutes? She thought to herself. What happened after I left? She waited for Vander to continue but all she received was silence. Ugh. He's going to make me ask. "Ok, I'll bite. What happened after I left?" She received no reply so she looked to her side only to realize he wasn't even there anymore. She spent the rest of the walk to the guild mumbling to herself about annoying males and was in a foul mood when she finally arrived and plopped herself on a stool at the bar.
Seeing her friend was in a bad mood, Mira just made the smoothie and let her take a sip before asking. "What's wrong Lucy? I would have thought you'd be in good spirits after everything that happened."
Lucy looked up confused. "What are you talking about Mira?" She looked around the mostly empty guild hall to see if she could spot a clue. "Where is everyone?"
"Gray and Natsu went on a mission this morning, same with the Raijinshuu. Cana left on that vacation to Bosco she's been saving up for, and Erza went to Akane Resort-"
"That's right," Lucy interrupted. "She won a stay there in the Miss Fairy Tail contest. That's nice. I hope she has a good relaxing time."
Mira giggled. "Oh she's having a good time alright, but I doubt she's getting much relaxation. Ooh the red haired, blue eyed babies! I can't wait!"
Confusion set in until the baby color combination sunk in. "Wait, who did she go to Akane with?"
"Cristoff of course! Once he found out she was his mate, there was no keeping the two apart. You should have seen it, it was so beautiful." Hearts in her eyes, Mira kept gushing over the new couple. "I guess you left right before it happened."
A swirl of darkness to her left had her glance over at the smirking shadowquip now seated at the bar as well. "Yeah, about 10 minutes before it happened from what I hear."
"Yup, that sounds about right Lucy!" Mira kept chattering on while Lucy just glared at Vander. He just winked back at her annoying her further. She fumed until the full reality of the situation kicked in and she began to smile.
"I was right," she said quietly to herself then repeated it again louder. "I was right!" Mira nodded and finally stopped gushing long enough to take Vander's order and serve him a beer. Lucy grinned and turned and poked Vander in the shoulder. "See? I was right!"
Vander smiled back, she was practically overflowing with happiness and it was infectious. She practically glowed when she was excited. "Yes you were. Don't get cocky though. Probably just luck." She started to frown a little. "But, I am quite pleased to see my brother find his mate. He has always held himself back emotionally because he didn't want to fall in love before he found his true mate. My sister found out the hard way how badly that can go. It's both a blessing and a curse for slayers. But thank you for my brother's happiness. Most likely they would have met eventually since our guilds work together often enough. Perhaps fate used you as the catalyst. I know there won't be any stopping your meddling at this point, but can you promise to leave the slayers alone from here on? Let fate work that out."
She listened and considered what he said carefully and agreed. She ignored the cry of relief from the Poison Slayer behind her. "Yes. I understand and that sounds best, but I do think you are underestimating me. I have a sense for who makes the best match. I can just feel when it's right."
Vander got up from the bar and circled behind her, trailing a hand up her arm. Shivers went down her spine. His hot breath in her ear as he spoke, "If you know who everyone's match is, then where is yours?" He dropped enough jewels on the bar to pay his tab and vanished.
Lucy screamed in frustration and rubbed her ear. "He did it again! I can't believe he licked me again!"
Mira hid her laugh as she retrieved the money and cleaned up the bar.